Runaway Life
by AnimeKawaiiChibi-chan
Summary: You would think having it all would be great. Think again. Having it all just made my life worst. I decided to change my identity with the help of my new friends. With this new identity, I will have a new life where I can be a nobody and change the world. How can I change the world if I'm a nobody? Never underestimate a girl and her Pikachu.
1. Escape

**AKCC here! For this fanfic, I'm trying my best to combine the anime, manga, and game universe into one! So canon characters in each universe will be turned into one. For example, Ash is the main reincarnation of Red in the anime so he will be Ash in here, but he will retain elements of Red from Pokespe in here. In other words, he will be dense.**

 **I will also add every characters from the Pokespe manga. If they have no other counterpart, I will make up names for them.**

 **I am also adding my own OC in here. If you read my other story, A Twist in Life, then you would know who she is.**

 **I am not the best with grammar, so don't point out every mistake I have.**

 **With all that out of the way, may I now present, Runaway Life! After the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, Pokespe would be made into an anime.**

* * *

Chapter One

The only sounds I could hear was my panting breath and my feet slapping against the concrete sidewalks of Saffron City. That and the deafening screams of hundreds of fans.

I took a sharp right into one of the many alleyways embedded in the city. I pushed myself against the wall as I tried to catch my breath.

"Do you think they're gone?" I asked to my partner on my shoulder.

"Pi pikachu pi." my faithful partner, Pikachu replied.

"Who knew winning all of the Pokemon Leagues in the regions would give me this kind of attention?" I sighed.

"Chu pika pi." Pikachu looked at me.

"And I thought this disguise will help me." I said as I stuffed my long black hair back into my hat. I buttoned my my long beige trench coat and pushed back the sunglasses that were in the tip of my nose nearer to my chocolate brown eyes.

"Pika pi." Pikachu shook her head. I didn't blame her though. Wearing this type of clothing during summer in a hot city might drive a lot of attention. We could've not been spotted if Pikachu wasn't stubborn and got in her pokeball just until we got out of the city. But no, she didn't since she hated being inside her pokeball. Since she was out on my shoulder, everyone could see the heart-shaped mark at the end of her tail and everyone just figured out that it was me.

"At least we got rid of them." I sighed.

Just as I had a moment to relax, I had someone shout 'There she is!' and I turned to see another mob of people coming through the alley.

"Or not!" I exclaimed as I started running in the opposite direction.

"Pi pika pi!" Pikachu exclaimed as she clung onto my shoulder as if her life depended on it. And it did.

"It's your fault for getting us in this mess! If you just got into your pokeball for just a minute, than we wouldn't be in this mess so don't you dare complain!" I exclaimed as I ran away from the hordes of fans.

I ran ahead of the fans until I couldn't make out anyone individually. I stopped at a T-section where there was a street in front and to the left of me. I panted as I placed my hands on my knees, but I heard shouts get louder from behind, in front, and to the left of me. I'm surrounded!

Just as I started to panic, I felt someone grab my hand and yank me into an alley to my right. Another hand covered my mouth while the other had a firm grip on my hand.

"Stay quiet. I'm not going to hurt you, just helping you." a voice whispered into my ear. I looked over to my shoulder to Pikachu who nodded. Since she's not sparking electricity from her cheeks, this guy may not be bad at all.

I heard fans pass and when they were gone, I was able to sigh a breath of relief. But whosoever hand was still over my mouth. I scowled since the guy who saved me still hasn't let go of me.

"Good they're gone." the guy sighed.

I frailed around in his grasp until I broke free. "What the hell?" I exclaimed as I turned around to face him.

"Is that what you said to the guy who just saved your life?" he said casually. He looked about my age with short black hair and blue-greyish eyes. He placed his hand in his jeans and leaned back onto the side of a building with a grin on his face.

"Fine. That was rather rude of me." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Can I at least have the name of my savior?"

"Now isn't someone finally acting like a lady?" he waved his index finger at me. Arceus, this guy is already getting on my nerves. "Name's Calem by the way. Calem Calme."

"Your name is Calem Calme?" I sweatdropped. "That sounds like a stupid name."

"I know. I don't know why my parents decided to give me a name that sounds so close to my last name. Don't blame me." He said placing his hands behind his head, trying not to knock off the red cap on his head. "Well I better go." he started to walk away.

"Wait! Aren't you going to ask me for my name?" I stopped him.

"Why should I? Your name's everywhere in the city." he turned around to face me.

"How do you even know that?" I said quickly.

"Easy, your Pikachu." he pointed to her on my shoulder. I glared at her. "And your disguise isn't that good."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You heard me. If you're trying not to get any attention, than you're failing. That is just driving more attention to yourself." he looked me over.

"You're one to talk! Tell me that a teenage boy lurking in the alleys of Saffron City at dusk isn't creepy!" I retorted.

"It's not because I'm not lurking." he countered.

"Than what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I saw a damsel in distress so I thought I'd save her." he answered.

"I can take care of myself." I huffed.

"Sure you can. After seeing you run away from all those fans really convinced me." he said with sarcasm laced in every one of his words.

"You don't know anything about me!" I said.

"Fine, whatever you say." he turned around to the streets. "Aren't you suppose to get going? It's almost dark."

"I would but-" I thought back to all those fans just waiting at the Pokemon Center for me to appear. I bet that they're still there.

"Well, if you can't go back, you can stay with me and my friends for tonight." Calem turned around to face me.

"I don't want to be a burden." I shook my head.

"Don't worry. We have plenty of room. Come on." he grabbed my hand and started to drag me to one of the side doors to the building to the right of us.

He stopped in front of the last one and opened the door. He entered and I followed. We walked through the remains of what seems to be the lobby of an apartment building. Most of the buildings in the city are run down and abandoned so it would be perfect for criminals and murderers. Now I'm doubting whether to not to trust this guy.

"Here we are!" he announced after climbing twenty flights of stairs.

"Why are you camped out so high up?" I asked, panting after walking up all those stairs.

"It has the highest vantage point for us." he answered as he opened the door.

Who's 'us'?

* * *

 **And the first chapter is done! It's a slow start, but everything will make sense starting next chapter. I only have a few chapters down since this is more of a side story when ever I have writer's block for A Twist in Life, but there will be an ending to this story!**

 **Due to my other story taking most of my writing time, I won't be able to update this story a lot since I also need to write chapters for it. And of course, I have my life to deal with. Don't fear though! I'll try my best to get this story done!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	2. Introductions

**AKCC here, and I would like to say, I am very touched at you responses to the first chapter. I have never thought that, not one, but two people would favorite a newbie writer from just her first chapter!**

 **I would like to give a shout out to antheys17 as this story's first fav and DisneyWriter for both faving this and being the first follower!**

 **But celebrations aside, I have to get back to business. The cover for this story is made form several different images that I found online and I want to give credit to their owners even if I don't know who they are.**

 **I also forgot to mention last chapter that Calem will have a slightly different personality in here then the manga. Since the volume isn't completely done yet, I'm making him the way I wan to make him.**

 **Ash: Wow, this place looks nice.**

 **Brendan: Looks like a dump to me.**

 **Lucas: That's because it's suppose to look this way.**

 **AKCC: Hey! What are you guys doing on set? You're not even in the story yet!**

 **Ash: I don't know. We just saw an open door and walked into here.**

 **AKCC: How are you guys even here? I haven't written you into the story yet!**

 **Brendan: We came from your mind. Blame yourself.**

 **AKCC: Argh. I don't have time for this. One of you do the disclaimer while I go figure out how to get you guys out of here.**

 **Lucas: What's her problem? Anyways, AKCC doesn't own Pokemon. She only own the idea of this story and a character named Scarlett? Who's that?**

 **Ash: Guess we're going to find out.**

* * *

Chapter Two

"Who's 'us'?" I asked. He opened the door and walked in. I followed him and saw a bunch of teenagers scattered around the remains of a loft apartment.

"Finally you're back." a red-haired guy said.

"We started to get worried." a petite blonde girl said. She had her hair up in a ponytail.

"What took you so long?" another rather short boy with blond hair asked.

"Oh I see. That person was a girl." a brunette girl who wore a white hat with a red rim going across it said looking at me. Everyone then turned their attention on me.

"She looks familiar." a brunet boy with a red and white cap was scratching his chin.

"And cute." a guy with a black and yellow cap grinned. A part of his black hair was sticking of the cap which he wore backwards.

"Is everything you think of is how pretty girls are?" a girl with dark blue hair said. Her gravity-defying pigtails bounced as she kicked the guy, who just spoke, in the head.

"Well she should look familiar; her face is plastered on every billboard around the city!" a brunette girl wearing a pink and white cap exclaimed. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

"Oh yeah. Thanks Prez!" the guy in the red and white cap said.

"I told you to stop calling me that! You don't work for me anymore." the girl in the pink and white cap said.

"But I feel like I still owe you for all that equipment." the guy replied.

"He is so stupid." a brunet guy with a visor said.

"Why is big sis even into him?" a brunette girl with a visor said.

"Shut up you two!" the girl in the pink and white cap exclaimed, digging her fists in the heads of the teens in the visors.

"Ahem." Calem said loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Now that we all know who she is, she's going to stay with us for the night due to obsessive fans."

"You know if it's too much hassle for you guys, I can just find somewhere else to stay." I said, slowly backing up to the door.

"Nonsense! We have plenty of room and food here for you!" the girl with the white hat said, pulling me away from the door. She yanked off my coat, hat, and glasses, revealing my black boots, white jeans, and red tank top underneath.

"You're going to scare the girl." Calem said making me sit in a seat next to him.

"Guys, she doesn't even know our names. Maybe we should introduce ourselves first." the blonde girl said.

"You're right! How rude of us." the girl with the white hat said. "My name's Leaf Green."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Amber Viridian." the blonde girl said.

"Argent Passant." the red-haired guy said.

"Kristee Kotone, but you can call me Kris." the bluenette said cheerfully.

"Name's Ethan Hibiki and you can call me anytime." the guy with the yellow and black cap said, which earned him another kick to the head by Kristee.

"I'm Rald Mitsuru." the short blond boy said.

"My name's Hilbert Touya." the guy with the red and white cap said.

"I'm Hilda Touko." the girl with the pink and white cap said.

"Name's Nate Kyohei." the boy in the visor said.

"And I'm Rosa Mei. Nate's my twin and Hilda's our big sister who's older than us by two years." the girl in the visor said.

"Than why do you guys have different last names?" I asked.

"We go by our middle names for our last name since our last name is pretty embarrassing." Hilda explained.

"Especially after we found out who our dad is." Nate said bitterly.

"Nate, we're know you're upset, but stay focus here." Calem snapped his fingers.

"I know that this is all too much to handle at once, but try to bear with us until we can explain everything." Amber said.

"Yeah, but right now, I want to know why a group like you guys are together." I asked, holding Pikachu in my lap. Like me, she's pretty confused right now.

"We weren't always together." Kris said. "We all used to have successful lives, but it was all a bit too much for us."

"One by one, each of us ran into this guy and he was able to give us a new identity by giving us a place to stay on his own private island in the Sevii Islands." Leaf explained.

"Since we have a new life now, we go on different missions to help others or just get information. But on those missions, we each have a different name to hide our identity." Amber said. "My mission name is Amarillo del Bosque Verde, but you can call me Yellow."

"I go by Blue Aoi." Leaf said.

"Silver Kamon." Argent said.

"Emerald Midori." Rald said.

"Crystal Mizuiro, but again, you can call me Crys." Kristee said.

"Call me Gold Kin." Ethan said.

"I'm White Shiroi." Hilda said.

"Black Kuro." Hilbert said.

"Call me Whi-Two Mashiro." Rosa said.

"I go by Lack-Two Kuroguro." Nate said.

"And I am Xavier Inochi, but call me X." Calem said.

"And we all get along just great. Like Hilda, Rosa, and Nate, some of us are related." Ethan said. "For instance, I'm cousins with Amber, but she's also cousins to Rald so I guess that makes us cousins too."

"Even though Argent and I aren't related by blood, he's like a little brother to me." Leaf explained.

"Leaf and I were friends when we were little and we still are." Amber said.

"While training, I broke some of Hilda's equipment for a commercial she was filming and I got to know her and her siblings since I had to work for her to pay for it. That's also why I call her 'Prez'!" Hilbert said.

"In my free time, I volunteered at Earl's orphanage in Violet City where Rald was an orphan. And now, he's like a little brother to me." Kristee said.

"All of you guys seem close. But like when you guys said I looked familiar, some of you guys seem familiar to me too." I said.

"That's right! I used to be a very good thief." Leaf said proudly.

"One who liked the security cameras too much. I also used to be a thief with Leaf." Argent said.

"I used to be the protector of the Viridian Forest." Amber said shyly.

"I used to be a professional catcher and caught every type of pokemon out there." Kristee said proudly.

"I used to be a hot shot billiards player and was pretty good at it." Ethan pulled a billiards cue from who-knows-where.

"I beat the Battle Frontier in a week." Rald said.

"I awakened Reshiram and was the Unova League Champion before you." Hilbert said.

"I used to run my own acting company called the BW Agency." Hilda said.

"I went undercover in Team Plasma and helped take it down fromt the inside." Rosa said.

"I worked for the International Police as a high ranking member and help take down Team Plasma from the outside." Nate said.

"I won a pokemon tournament as a kid and reporters were all over it. My parents are also retired pokemon trainers who were prominent battlers." Calem said.

"That clears a lot of things up, but I think I know some of you because of different reasons." I said, thinking hard of where I saw Leaf's face and where I heard Argent's, Hilda's, Rosa's, and Nate's name.

"That's it!" I snapped my fingers. I pointed to Argent. "You're the head of Team Rocket's son!"

His face darken. "Yeah, I am Giovanni's son. How do you know that?" Argent asked.

"I used to run into a bunch of members, who are very annoying, and I overheard them while trying to rescue my pokemon from them a couple of times." I explained. "And Hilda, Rosa, Nate, your last name is Harmonia, isn't it?" I turned to the siblings.

I saw that all of their expressions turned dark as well. All of them were staring at the floor.

"That's our last name." Rosa nodded.

"After what our fath- I mean Ghetsis did, we took our middle names as our last names, but we are still related." Hilda said.

"How do you even know that? That was classified information." Nate asked.

"I met N. He told me of his father and his half-siblings." I explained. "I also met Looker and he is not good with keeping secrets."

"But Leaf, you're the one I think I know the most." I turned to her. "You were the girl who got kidnapped by Ho-oh in Pallet Town ten years ago, weren't you?"

"Y-yes. I was." Leaf looked at the floor. "But that was only talked about in Pallet. I know every face from there, but I never remember you ever being there."

"I did live in Pallet with my parents when I was little, but I had an accident and I lost my memory. The first thing I heard about when I woke up was a girl taken away by a rainbow pokemon. Soon after that, my dad came in and told me that we had to move. It was just my dad and I ever since then. Due to that accident, I don't even remember my mom at all! My dad said that she died. It was okay though, my dad was always there for me in my childhood. He even me an egg which hatched into a Pichu who became my Pikachu." I explained.

"But, when it got closer to my tenth birthday, he started to take long trips. I was alone with Pikachu and the other pokemon my dad gave me for hours, days, and even weeks. But my dad always came back. Than, on the day I started my journey, my dad decided to take a training trip and the house was empty for weeks since I was on my journey and my dad was on his own journey." I wiped tears away.

"When I finished winning the Kanto and Johto leagues, I went back home, but it was empty. I found a note saying that dad was on Mt. Silver, still training, but when I got up there, I didn't find him. That was when I vowed to become stronger, to find my dad someday. I won the league in Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos as well, but I never found my dad and whenever I went home again, it was always empty." I didn't even noticed that Calem pulled me closer to him and now, I was crying on his shoulder.

"That sounds horrible." Amber looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"I feel so bad for you." Leaf was also on the verge of tears.

"I hope you find your dad." Kristee was offering another tissue to Hilda and Rosa who were already crying and blowing their noses.

"Enough mushy stuff. Can you we eat? I'm starving." Ethan stood up.

"Idiot!" Kris kicked him again. "You insensitive jerk! Can you see that she's upset?" Kris exclaimed.

"Whoa, calm down Super Serious Gal. I was only kidding. You don't have to take everything so seriously." Ethan hid behind Argent.

"Though I do agree that Ethan is insensitive, I only think that we should eat." Rald nodded.

A growl from all of our stomachs confirmed that.

"I would never thought that a girl as skinny as you would have a big growl from her stomach." Calem said.

"Shut up." I said, holding my stomach.

Amber, Leaf, and Kristee got out a pot and some ingredients out and Hilda got her Tepig, Gigi, to light a fire. As dinner was cooking, I got to know the group a little better.

"So you guys said that you wanted to run away and get a new life, right?" I asked. they all nodded. "Okay, I understand why Argent, Hilda, Rosa, and Nate wanted to run away, but what about the rest of you?"

"After Argent found out who his father out, he ran away and found me." Leaf explained. "I was still a thief at the time and Argent joined me as my partner in crime."

"We did have successful jobs, but Leaf wanted to show her face off to the camera and they got a clear view of her face." Argent explained.

"So we escaped to Mt Silver where a guy found us and gave us our new life." Leaf finished.

"As for me, I was born in the Viridian Forest with healing powers." Amber explained. "But over time, people wanted to use me for my powers and I decided get a new life after Leaf told me of how she got a new one."

"As you know, I was a famous catcher so many people came to me for my skills, but it was too much for me. I gave most of my pokemon to Professor Oak and got a new life." Kristee explained.

"I got into a fight and I had to hide my face." Ethan said bluntly.

"And ever since then, bikers have been hunting for him." Rald said. "After beating the Battle Frontier, reporters came to interview me, but they didn't believe it due to my size so I had to get away."

"I got too much screen time after winning the Unova league and I wanted to focus on my training so I teamed up with Prez and her siblings for a new life!" Hilbert explained.

"When I was little, after winning the Kalos Junior Tournament, reporters wouldn't leave me alone so I became a bit of a shut in. I had enough of it and ran away from my home. I wandered around for a while before I met the same guy everyone else here met." Calem explained.

By that time, the food was ready and everyone got a bowl.

"Wow, this is great." I exclaimed after I took a sip.

"You can thank Amber for it. She made up the recipe." Hilda said.

"It's nothing." Amber smiled. She took out a pokeball and released a female Pikachu like mines, just without the heart mark.

"That's a good idea. Ditty, have some food." Leaf took a spoonful of soup and lifted up to her hat. To my surprise, a face showed up on the hat and it gratefully ate the soup.

"Dit ditto!" it exclaimed. So it was a Ditto.

One by one, everyone started to release their pokemon. Since we were still in a building, they could only let out their smaller pokemon.

As we ate, I learned more about them. Leaf was the same age as me, 16 and had a Ditto, Ditty, a Blastoise, Blasty, a Wigglytuff, Jiggly, a Clefable, Clefy, a Nidoqueen, Nidory, and a Granbull.

Amber was 15 and had a Pikachu, Chuchu, a Butterfree, Kitty, a Raticate, Ratty, a Golem, Gravvy, a Omastar, Omny, and Dodrio, Dody.

Kristee was 15 and had a Meganium, Megaree, a Xatu, Xatee, a Hitmonchan, Hitmonee, a Cubone, Bonee, a Parasect, Parasee, and an Arcanine, Arckee.

Argent was 14 and had a Feraligatr, a Honchkrow, a Weavile, a Gyarados, a Kingdra, and a Rhyperior.

Ethan was 14 and had a Typhlosion, Exbo, an Ambipom, Aibo, a Politoed, Polibo, a Sunflora, Sunbo, a Sudowoodo, Sudobo, and a Togekiss, Togebo.

Rald was 14 and had a Sceptile, a Sudowoodo, a Dusclops, a Snorlax, a Mr. Mime, and a Mantine.

Hilbert was 15 and had an Emboar, Bo, a Braviary, Brav, a Musharna, Musha, a Galvantula, Tula, and a Carracosta, Costa.

Hilda was 15 and had a Serperior, Amanda, an Alomomola, Nancy, a Mandibuzz, Barbara, a Tepig, Gigi, a Deerling, Darlene, and a Stunfisk, Dorothy.

Nate was 13 and had a Samurott, a Scolipede, a Beheeyem, a Seismitoad, and a Conkeldurr.

Rosa was 13 and had a Foongus, Dake-chan, an Emboar, Buta-chan, a Zebstrika, Raika-chan, a Leavanny, Haha-chan, a Chandelure, Candela-chan, and a Cinccino, Chino-chan .

Calem was 16 and had a Kangaskhan, Kanga and Li'l Kanga, a Gengar, Lasma, a Manectric, Élec, a Charizard, Salamè, and a Chesnaught, Marisso.

"Hey," Kristee called me. "What type of pokemon do you have?"

"Me? I have my Pikachu, of course. I also have a Venasaur, a Blastoise, and a Charizard." I answered.

"Don't you have any other pokemon?" Ethan asked.

"Not really. I was given all of them by my dad and I guess that I have an unbreakable bond with them. I didn't really feel the need to capture anymore pokemon since I won every league with the pokemon I have right now." I answered.

"How do you feel if you join us?" Calem said out of nowhere.

"What?" I looked as confused as everyone else.

"You heard me. According to what you told us, you hate your life right now, like what we all felt. If you really want to get away from it all, then join us." Calem said.

"I don't have anything to lose. My dad is missing, I hate all the attention I'm getting, I don't have any close friends or any other family, and the only pokemon I have are with me right now." I looked down to my lap where Pikachu was. "Yes. I'll join you guys." I smiled brightly at all of them.

"Than it settled." Calem nodded as he whipped out his blue Pokegear with white lining and dialed a number.

The guys all cheered while the girls went up and tackled me in a group hug. Good thing we all finished dinner.

"This is great!" Leaf exclaimed as she was choking me.

"Leaf, I think it's time to let go; you're making her turn blue!" Amber got Leaf off of me.

"By the way, what's your favorite color?" Calem asked me while he was still on the Pokegear.

"Red. But not like a basic red. More like a darker red. Like crimson or scarlet red." I answered.

"Scarlet red it is." Calem nodded.

"If you're going to join us, you also have to change your hair and eye color." Kristee said.

"I have to change my hair and eye color?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we have a wide selection of natural looking hair color that permanent so you don't have to redye it." Hilbert said.

"We also have contacts in all different colors. You put them on and with a special eye drop, and they basically become your new eye color. No need to take them out." Rald explained.

"That sounds like amazing technology." I was surprised.

"The guy that got us all together is really rich. That's why." Ethan said.

"You also get your own room with a closet that is filled with all the clothing you can think of." Leaf exclaimed.

"But since we all want a new life, we also need a new identity." Argent said.

"You're gonna have to choose a new name. You can keep your first name, but just change your last name. You also need to choose a codename." Nate explained.

A new last name and a codename? That shouldn't be too hard.

"Alright then, everything is settled." Calem closed his Pokegear and walked back to us. "We should all get some rest. it's already late and we're all leaving tomorrow morning."

Everyone took blankets from the closet and couches and set them on the floor which was big enough since the boys pushed all the furniture to the sides of the room. Everyone was split up so all the girl slept in a row on one side of the room while the boys slept across from us on the other side. I laid down between Leaf and Amber and got Pikachu to curl up next to me. I yawn as my eyelids got heavy. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Tomorrow, I will no longer be Ashley Satoko Ketchum, I will be a runaway. A new life is waiting.

* * *

 **Now that I got them out of here, I want to explain some stuff in this chapter.**

 **First, names. I based the names off of the game and manga.**

 **Leaf Green/Blue Aoi- very obvious. Aoi means blue in Japanese.**

 **Amber Viridian/Amarillo del Bosque Verde- Amber is a shade of yellow and she comes from the Viridian Forest.**

 **Argent Passant/Silver Kamon- Argent is silver in French and Passant means Passerboy. Kamon is silver in Japanese.**

 **Rald Mitsuru/Emerald Midori- Rald is a shorter version of Emerald and Mitsuru is Wally's Japanese name. Midori is the Japanese word for an emerald green.**

 **Kristee Kotone/Crystal Mizuiro- Kristee sounds like Crystal and Kotone is Lyra's Japanese name. Mizuiro is means crystal in Japanese.**

 **Ethan Hibiki/Gold Kin- Hibiki is Ethan's Japanese name and kin is gold in Japanese.**

 **Hilda Touya/White Shiroi- Touya is Hilda's Japanese name and shiroi is white in Japanese.**

 **Hilbert Touko/Black Kuro- Touko is Hilbert's Japanese name and kuro means black in Japanese.**

 **Rosa Mei/Whi-Two Mashiro- Mei is Rosa's Japanese name and mashiro is a shade of white in Japanese.**

 **Nate Kyohei/Lack-Two Kuroguro- Kyohei is Nate's Japanese name and kuroguro is a shade of black in Japanese.**

 **Calem Calme/Xavier Inochi- Calme is Calem's French name and Xavier starts with X, like his Pokespe character. Inochi means life in Japanese.**

 **Since Lack-Two's and Whi-Two's teams haven't completely come out yet, I have based them from the other dexholders. For Lack-Two, I used Green's, but with Unova pokemon. For Whi-Two I used Platinum's team, but with Unova pokemon. And Whi-Two's nicknaming pattern is taken from a part of its Japanese name and just adding -chan to it.  
**

 **Secondly, since I only have a few chapters written, I will only post a new chapter if we can reach over 10 reviews. A small goal yes, but I have to keep up if this story is going to be to be more popular than I expected.**

 **Lastly, I want to host a contest. Every chapter, I will list one thing or several things that are related to each other. If you guess correctly, than I will give you a shout out in the next chapter. And no, responses to the contest do not count to the review count for next chapter.**

 **I'm not going to make it easy like I did with my other story. The clues are Fly, Alice, Sk8er Boi, and Hello Kitty. Good luck!**

 **Again, I would like to thank you all for reading my story!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	3. Makeover

**AKCC here. Yeah, I did say that I was only updating when I got ten reviews, but I lied. I like to give a shout out to DisneyWriter for being my first review and please know that I'm taking your advice to heart. I also like to thank A Lights Shadow and Guest for also reviewing.**

 **If any you are confused, this is a story where Ashley is an OC. I only put Ash as a main character because he will have a major part later in the story. The Pikachu she has is also female and has a heart shaped mark on the edge of her tail like the Pikachu in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. In this story, Ashley is also 16 so she's about the same age as the Kanto dexholders in this story.**

 **I know that last chapter was a lot of information so I like to break down for you. I am combining the game characters and manga counterparts into one unless they have an anime counterpart. I know there's Jimmy and Marina, but they're not focused on as much so I made Ethan and Kristee. They will have their manga counterparts' personality since the game characters, they don't talk. For characters like Red, Green, Sapphire, Ruby, Platinum, Diamond, Pearl, and Y, I'm replacing them with Ash, Gary, May, Brendan, Dawn, Lucas, Barry, and Serena respectfully. I'm going to introduce them to different parts of the gang at different points before they all meet up.**

 **What else am I missing? Oh yeah. There's a poll up on my profile on which story I should update/post the first chapter of. The summaries of my stories are near the bottom of my profile.**

 **I know you are tired of me talking and just want to get on with the story, but after the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: AKCC does not and will never own Pokemon, but she does own the idea for this fanfic and the OC Ashley.**

* * *

Chapter Three

 **Ashley's POV**

"GET UP EVERYBODY! WE'RE HEADING OUT!"

I shot up from my lace on the floor to see who was the idiot who woke everyone up. Well, almost everyone. Amber was still sleeping peacefully next to me while Ethan was trying to wake her up with a megaphone in his hands.

"WAKEY WAKEY AMBER!" he screamed into the megaphone. I covered my ears with the rest of the girls since we were the closest to him.

Before he could yell into the megaphone anymore, Argent swiped it out of his hands and Kristee kicked him into the wall.

"Did you need to wake us up that way, you idiot?!" Kristee yelled at him.

"I think I've gone deaf." I said as I rubbed my ears.

"Ditto." Leaf sighed. Her hat turned back in her Ditty. "Oh I didn't mean you sweetie." Leaf said as Ditty went back into a hat.

"Since we're already up due to a certain someone," Rald shot a glare at the heap that was suppose to be Ethan. "we might as well get something to eat and head out."

Everyone nodded as they picked up all the blankets and threw them around the room. No one was living here so why bother cleaning up?

"Can someone help me get Amber on one of the couches?" Hilda asked as she held Amber's arms.

"I'll help." I walked over to her and lifted her legs. "How is she able to sleep through that?" I asked as we set her down on the couch.

"She's a very heavy sleeper. If she uses her healing powers too much, she'll fall asleep." Hilda explained as we went over to help the others with breakfast.

Amber finally woke up when breakfast, or in other words, sandwiches, was done. "Hey everybody, did I sleep in?" she asked with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes as she walked over to the rest of us.

"Nope, just in time." Rosa said as she handed her a sandwich.

We all ate in peace until Ethan asked if I wanted help figuring out my new look.

"Maybe a blue-eyed curly blonde with a short mini skirt and a low-" that suggestion earned him a kick to the head by Kristee.

"You pervert!" Kristee yelled.

I sweatdropped along with everyone else, I think I could get used to this.

When we all finished eating, everyone got out their flying pokemon. There as a skylight in the ceiling so that was a good thing. But the bad thing was that it didn't opened.

"So you want us to crash through the glass?" Nate asked.

"That sounds like an awesome idea! I'm in!" Hilbert exclaimed.

"We have no other way so why not?" Argent shrugged. He had his Honchkrow perched on his shoulder.

Leaf had her Ditty transform into a Swanna while Amber had Kitty hold her so it would look like she had Butterfree wings on her back. Kristee held onto her Xatu and Argent did the same with his Honchkrow. Ethan climbed onto the back of his Togebo and Rald used his Mantine with multiply Remoraid on it. Hilbert and Nate were on Brav while Hilda and Rosa were on Barbara. Calem was sitting on his Charizard and I was sitting on my own Charizard.

"Hey Ashley, can I see your Pokedex and Pokegear for a sec?" Calem asked.

"Sure, here." I took them out and handed them to him.

"Thanks." he said as he threw than down to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I screamed as I looked at the broken pieces scattered onto the floor. I screamed again when Calem told his Charizard to use Flamethrower on them. I had to resist the urge to get Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on the both of them.

"Don't worry about them. You'll get new ones once we get there." Calem waved it off like destroying someone else's Pokegear and Pokedex was something normal.

"Fine." I huffed.

"Is everyone ready?" Calem asked, only to be answered with nods. "Than let's go!" We all took off at the same time. The skylight shattered as we shot through it and into the sky. Charizard uncovered his wings from around me and flew off with the others.

When was the last time I ever flew like this? I never felt so free in my entire life! I let out a laugh as Charizard did a barrel roll.

"So you do laugh." Calem shouted over the wind as he flew next to me.

"Shut up." I shouted back.

"But I have to say, you do look cute when you laugh like that." he shouted before flying ahead.

I felt my face blush before looking down to see both Pikachu and Charizard smirk at me. "Shut up." I muttered to them. Charizard turned his head around to face forward while Pikachu kept looking at me.

"Pika pika pi chu?" she looked at me slyly.

"Don't you get any ideas." I glared at her.

Calem, Ethan, and Leaf flew ahead while Amber, Kristee, Rald and I were right behind them. Hilbert, Nate, Hilda, Rosa, and Argent were flying behind us. The flight went on for another hour until Kristee informed me that we were almost at the island.

"Right now, we're over the Sevii Islands. We should be at our island in a couple of minutes." she shouted over the wind.

Calem's Salamè let out a roar and dived downwards. One by one, each of us did the same. The clouds parted until I could spot a small island with a giant mansion in the middle of it. In the back of the mansion was six battlefields surrounding a wide area filled with several machines and a pool. A forest surrounded the mansion a good 200 meters from it, but the forest was still big.

I directed Charizard to follow the others as they landed in front of the mansion. When Charizard landed, I hopped off and returned him to his pokeball, thanking him and giving him a good rest.

"Whoa." I gasped when I turned to look at the mansion up close. It was ten stories high and was made of white marble.

"I know, right?" Leaf came up from behind me.

"This is where you'll be staying from now on." Calem said as the french doors opened up.

A man with messy black hair hidden under a white and red cap walked out through the doors. His red eyes were hidden under his black hair. A red and white jacket was over a black t-shirt and his blue jeans flowed with every movement his legs made. His red and white sneakers softly let out a soft _thud_ with every step.

My eyes went wide as I looked at the man. I let out a small gasp and let my hands fall to my sides. The man looked up at me and his eyes opened with surprise. Tears filled up my eyes as I took a shaky step forward and whispered the only word that could come out of my mouth.

"Dad."

I let the tears flow down my cheeks as I ran up to embrace my father. I wrapped my arms around him and he wrapped his arms around me as well.

"Ashley." he said. I felt something wet hit my head and looked up to see my dad actually crying for the first time in my life. That made me cry even more. I cried until his shirt was wet with tears. After all this time, I finally found my father, Red Ketchum.

* * *

"So he's your father?" Hilda asked as she set her cup of tea down in the table in the living room.

After my reunion with my dad, everyone walked in and settled around in the living room which was the size of our old house.

"Yeah. He gave me all of my pokemon as eggs and I hatched and raised them." I nodded. I was sitting next to my dad with Calem on the other side of me on one of the couches while Hilda, Hilbert, Nate, and Rosa were sitting across from us on another couch. Leaf, Amber, and Kristee were sitting together on a couch facing both of our couches, forming a square with an open side. Rald, Argent, and Ethan were standing around us.

"I was surprised to find out that my daughter only used the pokemon I gave her to win all the pokemon leagues." my dad chuckled as he took a sip of his tea.

"I didn't know you were the daughter of the missing Kanto champion." Ethan said.

"Oh, I didn't mention that?" I asked. Everyone shook their heads 'no'. "Whoops. Must have slipped my mind."

"Now I feel like a bad father for not being there for his daughter." my dad sighed.

"Don't be. Because of you, I was able to push myself to win the leagues and form closer bonds with my pokemon." I looked at him. "Though you weren't there for me when I needed you, I'm just happy to know that you were helping other kids." I gestured to everyone the room.

"That's my girl," my dad ruffled my hair. "Always looking on the bright side." he smiled.

"Stop it." I swatted his head away.

"Okay, since you're going to join this little group, you'll probably should get to your room. Who wants to show her?" Dad stood up.

"I'll do it! I can even help her in the bath-OW!" Ethan shot his hand up, but was kicked in the head by Kristee.

"Pervert!" she yelled, her eyes filled with fire.

"I'll show her to her room." Leaf said as everyone sweatdropped at Ethan who had a lump on his head. She pulled me up from my seat on into the hall that leads to the kitchen.

She turned a corner and pressed a button on the built-in elevator.

"Your room is on the third floor along with the rest of the girls." Leaf explained as we stepped in other elevator. She pressed the button for the third floor and the doors closed. "The boys are on the floor below us. There more floors above the bedrooms, but those are just a couple of training gyms whenever it's too cold to train outside. We also have a game room, a grand library, and a greenhouse." she finished as the doors opened. She dragged me out of the elevator and to a red door.

"Here, we can easily tell who's room is whose by the door color." she opened up the door to reveal a room the size of the loft apartment, no, even bigger than that. The wall were a light red color while the carpeted floor were a deep red color. A canopy bed was pushed up in the middle of the left wall while a balcony was across from the door. The bathroom and closet were opposite from the bed.

"This is amazing!" I squealed. How come Dad never had any of this when I was younger? He has a lot of explaining to do.

"Your new Pokegear and Pokedex are on the table while all the hair colors and color contacts are in the bathroom. Just follow the instructions on the packages and they should be permanent. You have a wide selection of clothes to choose from in the closet so you can wear anything you want. The Pokegear already have all of our numbers on it while the Pokedex will be automatically updated with new data whenever available." Leaf informed me.

"Thanks."I nodded as she closed the door and left me in my new room.

Pikachu hopped from my shoulder and towards the bathroom, I followed her and gasped at the shining new bathroom. I decided to take a shower first before dyeing my hair.

After my shower, I wrapped a towel around myself before stepping out of the shower, Pikachu was sitting on the counter. I opened up the cabinet and saw an array of hair colors.

"They weren't kidding." I muttered as I looked at the different colors.

"Pi pika chu pi." Pikachu pointed to the blonde colors.

"You think these would look good on me?" I asked as I picked up a bottle filled with a pale blonde color. Pikachu nodded yes and I decided on this color. I followed the directions on the bottle and after rinsing any extra dye out, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was surprised, I did look like a natural blonde, whose hair was sun-bleached.

"Pika." Pikachu nodded in approval.

I smiled and went over to the color contacts. Again, I was astonished. Every color imaginable were in here. I settled for a striking scarlet red color and placed them in. I put eyedrops on the contracts and looked again in the mirror. I could hardly recognize myself.

I secretly grab a bottle of 'Pikachu Yellow' hair dye and held it behind my back. Pikachu wasn't facing me so I picked her up in my other hand and dropped her in the tub filled with water. She tried to shock me, but I was so used to it, I wasn't fazed by it. After getting her wet, I pour the bottle of dye on her tail in order to cover up the black heart mark. Luckily, I didn't get any on her body, only her tail. After I was done applying that to her tail, she looked like every other female Pikachu.

"You'll thank me for that." I said to her as she growled at me. She stopped when she figured out why I had to do it.

I rinsed the soap and dye from my hands and looked back at the mirror.

"Perfect." I looked at my reflection. I closed the cabinets and walked out into my room with the towel still wrapped around my body.

I walked into the closet and my jaw dropped to the floor. This was no closet, it was more like a small clothing bouquet. I browsed through the different clothing until I decided on an outfit. I took the clothes and walked into the built-in changing room.

When I walked back in my room, I was wearing a sleeveless black dress that ended mid-thigh with black leggings. I left the scarlet red jacket I had over the dress unzipped and a brown belt was resting just above my hips. I wore fingerless black gloves and knee-high brown lace-up boots. I walked over to that table and picked up the scarlet red Pokegear and matching Pokedex. I placed them in the brown shoulder bag I had and walked out of the room.

I sent a message via Pokegear to Dad saying that I was ready. He sent back a message to meet him and the others in the yard out back. I went to the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. When the doors opened on the first floor, I went to the back of the house until I found a door that leads outside. I opened it and walked outside where everyone was. They were talking to each other until they saw me.

All the boys, including my dad, dropped their jaws while the girls squealed over my new look.

"How do you guys think I look?" I asked.

"Is that really you, Ashley?" Hilbert asked.

"The one and only, but I want to change my last name though." I said.

"Well that does make sense. There are a lot of Ashley's, but only one Ashley Ketchum." Argent said, changing back to his emotionless façade.

"What about Crimson?" Rosa suggested. "Ashley Crimson, do you like that?"

"Ashley Crimson. That sounds great to me." I nodded.

"Then Ashley Crimson will be your name, but what about your codename?" Rald asked.

"Maybe try a color that you like. You said scarlet red is your favorite color, right?" Hilda asked.

"Yeah, it is. So Scarlett then." I said.

"But you also need a last name to go with it." Kristee pointed out.

"Maybe Scarlett Sacha?" Nate suggested.

"Scarlett Sacha. I think it suits you." Amber nodded.

"Then for my codename, it's going to be Scarlett Sacha." I said.

"Than it's settled. Welcome to the team Ashley Crimson aka Scarlett Sacha." Calem nodded.

"Finally, we have an even amount of girls and boys!" Leaf exclaimed.

"And another member to the team!" Ethan exclaimed.

"Alright, now that we have your name out of the way, can you call out your pokemon?" Dad asked.

I nodded and released my Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard out. They all cried out their names when they came out. Pikachu ran up from behind me and sat on Venusaur's head.

"Wow, how it you get Pikachu's tail to be entirely yellow?" Amber asked.

"Oh, that. I got a bottle of 'Pikachu Yellow' dye and dyed her tail." I explained with Pikachu glaring at me.

"Good thing we had that color than." Kristee said.

"Yeah, you can barely tell that her tail was dyed." Leaf said.

"Ashley, you know, people may figure out it's you if you call your pokemon the way you normally do, so do you want to give them nicknames right now?" Dad asked.

"Now? How do you guys feel about that?" I asked my pokemon. They all cried out happily and gave me a nod of approval. "Alright than. What about 'Saur' for Venusaur, 'Tor' for Blastoise, 'Char' for Charizard, and 'Pika' for Pikachu?" They all cried in approval.

"I think they like it." Dad nodded. "From now on, they will be known as those new names."

"You know, sir." Ethan nudged my dad. "If I was you, I would worry about any boys who come near her. Especially since she has a new look. It's working for me." Ethan moved from my father's side over to me and slung his arm over my shoulder, looking me over while stopping at my chest.

I could see Kristee get ready to kick him, but I beat her to it by punching Ethan in his jaw. Everyone was surprised at my action, even my dad.

"Listen up, buddy. I know that you're a playboy, but if you think your cheezy pick up lines are going to work on me, think again." I picked him up by his shirt. "I don't fall so easily for a guy. Especially someone like you. Besides, it seems like someone else is into you." I dropped him and glanced at Kristee who was turning red as she avoided eye contact with Ethan.

I looked over to Leaf to see her writing something down in a notebook. I heard her mutter something along the lines of 'mangaquestshipping' as she glance between Kristee and Ethan who was still rubbing his bruised jaw.

"I suggest that everyone get a good night's rest, especially you Ethan." Dad looked at him. "I hope that would teach you not to mess with my daughter."

"I think I'm more afraid of her than her father." Ethan muttered as he stood up.

"Serves you right for keep trying to hit on me." I said.

"And now he has two girls that can beat him." Argent smirked.

Everyone was shocked at Argent,but they all laughed afterwards.

I smiled at all of them. I have a new look, a new name, and a new team. This is my new life.

* * *

 **So Scarlett and Ashley are the same person. Who is also the daughter of the Kanto champion Red. Who didn't see that coming?**

 **Scarlett's last name, Sacha, is also Ash's French name, so that where's that came from.**

 **If you guys didn't notice it already, Scarlett was inspired by Red. From her color scheme to her nicknaming pattern. But Red isn't a blond and I needed a way that made it obvious that someone super famous isn't recognized, so I made Scarlett blonde.**

 **I don't know if technology has actually advanced enough to have hair dye and color contacts that you don't need to replace them (sorry for any inaccurate information), but I just put them in to make some sense.**

 **You can also see that Kristee kicks. A lot. Ethan is a pervert. A major one in fact. And Leaf is shipping people together. As usual. *cough* mangaquestshipping *cough***

 **If you didn't notice, there will be shippings in here:**

 **Mangaquestshipping (CrystalxGold)**

 **Agencyshipping (WhitexBlack)**

 **Specialshipping (YellowxAsh/Red)**

 **OldRivalshipping (BluexGreen/Gary)**

 **Commonershipping/Fortuneshipping (Platinum/DawnxDiamond/Lucas)**

 **Adoreshipping (Scarlett/AshleyxX)**

 **Adoreshipping is my own name for Scarlett and X since they are basically the opposite gender shipping of Ash and Serena. Because of that, I decided to name the shipping similarly to Amourshipping. Adore means to love in french while amour means love in french. See the similarity?**

 **Tell me if you guys want to see Lyra/Soul in this story to be paired up with Silver. I may or may not add Drew in here to be paired with May/Sapphire since in the manga, Sapphire was paired with Ruby who is Brendan in this story. I'm probably not going to add Drew since I and this to be strictly player characters and manga characters only, but I might change my mind if I'm convinced enough. Should I also add Curtis and Yancy in as well for Whi-Two and Lack-Two? They need love interests and it is clearly shown that Curtis and Yancy has a crush on Rosa and Nate respectfully.**

 **As for love interests for Emerald, Pearl/Barry, and Y/Serena, they would have none. There's really no one to pair Emerald and Pearl/Barry with, but for Y/Serena, I'm just going to have her as a confident young lady who doesn't need anyone. Who is also girly in the anime ways. Sorry for any Amourshippers or XxY shippers, but I'm not shipping her with anyone unless you want to see her with Pearl/Barry, which I'm pretty sure you don't.**

 **If any of you can remember about my contest I had lst chapter, no one even responded to it, so I'm giving you guys another chance. I see that the clues were a bit hard so I'm changing them so they're easier, but he answer is still the same. The clues are Girlfriend, When You're Gone, Complicated, and What the Hell. They are all songs that were sung by a female singer who has the initials A.L. This one should be easier since I'm using her more famous songs.**

 **That's pretty much it for this Author's Note.**

 **Except for this: Please review, enter the contest for a shout out, and tell me what you think about the shippings!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	4. Training Mission

**Hey, I'm back. I know I haven't updated this story in a while, but I still feel amazed that people are like loving this story.**

 **I would like to give a big, BIG shoutout to .18. You are amazing. You gave me so many ideas that I've never thought of, and I am giving you credit for every single one of your ideas.. If any of you reading this sees any amazing ideas, then it's probably .18's ideas. But dude, seriously, there may be something as too much. I can't fit every single thing you want in, but I'll try to see which ones I can get in.**

 **I still want to hear from all of my other readers though. Let me know what you're thinking about my story. Don't be shy, just review.**

 **But I'm getting ahead of myself. You should read the story first. But first, the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I, AKCC, do not any parts of Pokemon in any way. Game Freak does and even if I have all the money in the world, I will still not be able to buy it from them.**

* * *

Chapter Four

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Can you hurry up? Or do you just want me to stare at your butt?" X said as we were climbing a mountainside.

"You know, you can just go around me. You don't have to go behind me." I shouted down to him.

"But I want to catch you in case you fall." X said. I can just imagine him with a smirk in his face.

"Why? Why did I have to be paired up with him?" I muttered as I faced the mountainside.

Earlier, Dad told us that we're going on a training mission. Though I've only been here a week, I think I could manage it. He split us up in pairs, Blue and Silver, Yellow and Emerald, Crystal and Gold, White and Black, Whi-Two and Lack-Two, and that leaves X with me.

Our goal was to reach the peak of Mt Thunder, a mountain on an undiscovered island in the Sevii Islands, without the use of our pokemon. And the fun thing was that we were tied to each other. I know this wasn't Dad's idea and when I find out whose idea this was, they're dead.

"Okay we're almost at the top." I said when we were resting on a cliff.

"Yeah, but we better hurry up if we want get up there first." X said as he pointed to our right. I looked over and saw Blue and Silver climbing up the mountain side as quickly as they can. "Let's go." X grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a ledge that lead farther up the mountain.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked as Pika hopped onto my shoulder.

"We have no other way and this is quicker." he said as he held onto my hand and edged his way on the ledge.

The ledge was about a foot wide that leads to a 150 miles drop below. We had our backs to the mountain as we edged our way up the mountain. X's firm grip on my hand went loose when a piece of the ledge crumpled below him.

"Ah!" he cried out as he started to fall below.

"NO!" I quickly grabbed his outstretched hand with both of mines.

"What?" he looked up towards me.

"Help me out here or else we both go down." I grunted as I struggled to keep my grip. Pika ran down from my shoulder and started to pull on the rope that connects us in order to pull X up. I was able to pull X up and he stood up behind me.

"Thanks. Didn't knew you cared." X smirked.

"If I didn't, then I would also be dead." I retorted, gesturing to the rope between us. I turned away from him to hide the blush climbing up my face and I lead us across the ledge. When we got to a bigger cliff, we started to climb.

"You really are slow." X looked down at me while we were climbing. This time, he went first while I trailed behind him.

"You're not the one who has a pokemon on their shoulder, are you?" I looked up at him. "Unlike you, I have to carry both me and my pokemon up."

"Just recall her back into her pokeball." X suggested. That comment made the sacs on Pika's cheeks to spark.

"She doesn't like that. She hates it in there. If she didn't, then I would've done it in the first place." I grunted through my teeth as I started climbing again.

"How did you ever win all the leagues when you can't even get your pokemon inside their pokeball?" X said as he reached the top and pulled himself up.

"Not all pokemon have to stay in their pokeballs. Some prefer to be out with their trainers to build a stronger bond." I countered when I reached the top.

"Whatever you say." he offered a hand to help me up.

I slapped it away and pulled myself up on my own.

"I was just trying to help." X rubbed his hand.

"I don't need any help." I snapped at him. He shrugged and walked forward. Pika jumped off my shoulder and followed him while I walked behind them.

Suddenly, the ground underneath my feet crumpled and I started to fall off the cliff.

"Ahhh!" I cried out. I closed my eyes and waited to hit the ground that was several hundred feet below me.

But the impact never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was hanging only 3 feet below the edge of the cliff I fell off of. I looked up and saw that X was over the edge, holding my hand.

"Who knew you were so heavy?" he grunted through his teeth.

And there goes that little sliver of hope I had of him.

"Can you help me out here?" X said as he struggled to lift me up. I snapped out of my daze and pushed my feet against the cliffside. I found a grip using my other hand and started to pull myself up, with the help of X.

"Why are you even helping me?" I asked as I was almost at the top of the cliff.

"Just returning the favor you did for me. As you said, if one of us go down, we both go down. Plus your dad will kill me if you died." X answered as he grabbed my other hand and pulled me up.

Unfortunately, he pulled too hard. That led to him falling backwards, landing on his back, and me landing on his chest. And we were close. Very close. So close, we were in each other's faces. With. Our. Lips. Touching.

I was wide-eyed as my lips stayed on X's.

As.

We.

Were.

Kissing.

What the hell was going on?!

I finally found the strength to push myself off of X's chest and stop that kiss.

"I-I-I-I…" I stuttered as I looked back at him. My face was heating up as I did.

"Sorry, I was just-. I mean-" X tried to talk, but his face was red and I was pretty sure that he didn't even know what he just did.

"Well, well, well." we both looked up to see Blue, Yellow, Gold, and everybody else looking at us. "What do we have here?" Blue was the one who spoke.

"This is not what it looks like." I said quickly.

"Really?" Silver raised a brow.

"Looked like some serious lip locking just happened." Black grinned.

"Couldn't you guys at least do it privately. Geez, get a room." Emerald rolled his eyes.

"And I thought I would get the first move on her. But I guess you beat me to it." Gold said. That first sentence earned him a kick to the head by Crystal.

"Are you guys forgetting something?" Yellow asked.

Everyone turned from looking at X and me to her. Blue stopped writing in that little notebook of hers to listen to what Yellow has to say. I swear that she was muttering 'adoreshipping' as she was writing.

"Yeah, weren't we doing something?" White wondered out loud.

"I feel like we had something important to do." Whi-Two said.

"Does anyone else remember what we should be doing?" Lack-Two asked.

Wait a minute. Oh crap! The mission! My dad is so going to kill us all for this! Mostly X though.

"The mission!" X and I exclaimed at the same time, startling everyone else. Clearly, he had the same thought as me. Maybe not the last one, but still, we're both dead.

"My dad is going to be so mad!" I got up from X's chest and stood between Blue and Yellow.

"Where were we supposed to meet up with him?" X asked as he also got up.

"He said the peak of the mountain. Which is over there." Yellow pointed to a small hill over the horizon.

"Since we'll all here, I say we have a race." Blue chirped.

"If we're having a race, than we should have a start line." Crystal picked up a stick and drew a line in the dirt.

"Yeah! Than we'll see who's the best!" Gold cheered.

"Come on White!" Black grabbed his partner's hand, though it was unnecessary since he was tied to her, and we all lined up behind the starting line.

"Ready…"

"Get set…"

"GO!"

Pika was holding onto my jacket for dear life as we all zipped from the starting line. At first, Gold and Blue looked like they were racing each other, with their partners getting dragged behind them. But when Crystal and Silver each crashed into a tree, both Gold and Blue tripped and got left behind.

Whi-Two and Lack-Two was able to dodge them when they tripped, but White and Black weren't so lucky. Since they were right behind them, Black tripped over the two fallen trainers and brought White down with him.

X and I were neck-to-neck with Whi-Two and Lack-Two while Yellow and Emerald were trailing way behind us. We were slowing gaining speed, we might actually have a chance of winning! But that thought went away as soon as I saw a pair of very long legs over us.

"What the-?" I gasped. It was Emerald with Yellow hanging onto him.

"Hey no fair! You're not allowed to use your gadgets!"' X protested.

"You guys said nothing about me using them!" Emerald shouted back as Yellow hopped off of him. They were about 10 meters ahead of us.

"That little brat!" I looked around to see a raging Blue with a poor Silver flailing behind her.

"He should know better!" I expected to see an angry Gold chasing after him, but it was a furious Crystal instead. Gold was being dragged like a ragdoll behind her.

"He is now going to win!" Black yelled. White was doing her best to catch up with him.

I went wide-eyed at the very, very, _very_ mad mob behind us. "Move!" I shoved X out of the way, while still running, to avoid being in their path of destruction.

"Em-Emerald." Yellow whimpered. "I told you that was a bad idea!"

"Hold on sis!" Lack-Two yelled as he picked Whi-Two up bridal style and hopped out of the way Blue, Crystal, and Black was heading.

"Let's catch up to them! We're winning this!" X grabbed my hand and ran faster.

"No you're not!" Lack-Two yelled as he ran with his sister in his arms.

Soon, everyone was neck-to-neck as we were almost at the peak of the mountain. I could see the red hat of my dad waiting at a white and black line he painted. Emerald was still trying to avoid getting beat by two girls, but when Blue tried grabbing the hem of his shirt, she tripped, dragging Emerald, Yellow, and everyone else with her. Soon we were rolling like a giant ball towards the peak, but we stopped just before any of us cross the finish line.

"And the winners are... X and Scarlett!" Dad announced.

"WHAT?!"

I somehow untangled myself from the mess of limbs to see that Pika crossed the finish line. She must have been hurled off my shoulder when we all fell!

"How? They didn't even cross the line!" Blue exclaimed.

"Yeah! Only her Pikachu crossed!" Gold added.

"And that's the reason why." Dad calmly said.

"You're just playing favorites! She's your daughter!" Gold and Blue shouted.

"No, I am not." Dad said.

"Then can you explain how they won when Pika crossed the line?" Yellow asked.

"Easy, she's a part of their team." Dad answered.

"But you said pokemon aren't allowed!" Whi-Two whined.

"I think he said that we can't _use_ pokemon." Lack-Two corrected.

"Oh, so since she didn't get any help from Pika, that means that she can technically count as a member of her team." White mused out loud, with Black sulking behind her.

"She didn't break any of the rules so I think it would be okay." Crystal shrugged.

"Wait a minute, that meant I could've used my gadgets to get up here!" Emerald exclaimed.

"That reminds me," Blue and Crystal slowly turned around to face the younger boy. Flames were lit in their eyes.

"Uh-oh." Emerald gulped.

"I guess it was a good thing that I kept you out then." I patted Pika, careful not to touch the bruise on her head.

"Chuu..." Pika sighed.

"Told you to keep her out." X sat down next to me.

I glared at him. "You were the one who wanted to get her in her pokeball!" I corrected him.

"Whatever. We still won." X shrugged.

He watched as Emerald was being chased by Blue and Crystal with Silver and Gold trying to hold their partners back. Keyword here being _trying_. Over on Emerald's side, poor Yellow looked like a ragdoll. Dad sighed as he went over to calm the situation down.

I looked over to see White with a still sulking Black while Whi-Two and Lack-Two were talking about something.

"Hey Scarlett," X began. I looked over at him to see that he was blushing. "About what happened at the cliff."

"What! Oh! No! It's fine! J-just don't worry about it." Now it was my time to blush. "L-let's just forget that it even happened." I looked down at my lap where Pika was to see her snickering.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea." X said.

Me and my big mouth. Forget that ever happened? How can I ever forget my very first kiss?! At least it wasn't all that bad.

* * *

After prying Blue off of Emerald, Dad rounded everyone up and headed back to the house for some rest. And medical attention for Emerald, Silver, and Gold. They were the ones who were hurt the most. Emerald, mainly by Blue and a bit by Crystal, but for Silver and Gold, they got dragged around so much, they were limp until we got them in their beds.

When they were getting tend to, everyone else went back to their rooms.

"Pika?" my pokemon looked at me in confusion as I stuffed pieces of metal into a backpack.

"Pika, make sure no one is outside." I told her. Pika just shrugged and went out to the balcony. I zipped up the backpack and placed it on. I fell back a bit. Maybe I packed it too much.

"Pika pi." Pika called out, signaling the coast was clear. I nodded. I made sure that I had my pokeballs on my belt and walked over to the balcony. I carefully closed the french doors behind me and faced the Cheri blossom tree that was right outside.

Pika hopped onto my shoulder and I grabbed a branch of the tree. I jumped on and carefully hopped off of it and down to a lower branch. I repeated until I was on the ground.

I took off running for the forest surrounding the house while making sure to go in the shadows.

It wasn't long before I reached a clearing big enough for me and all of my pokemon.

"Alright guys, come on out!" I unclipped my pokeballs off my belt and threw them in the air. Three separate flashes of light came out of the three balls and when they cleared, Char, Saur, and Tor were standing before me.

"Char!"

"Saur!"

"Blast!"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" I hissed. They all understood and kept their mouths closed. "Good." I sighed. I slipped off the backpack and set in on the ground. I opened it and set three different pieces of metal on the ground.

"Sorry it took so long, but I finally got them done." I picked up the one with flames designs surrounding an orange and red stone and walked towards Char. He lowered his neck so I would be able to put it on. I strapped it on where his neck met the rest of his body so it would look like a collar of some sorts.

I picked up the one with vines designs curling around a blue and teal stone and went over to Saur with it. I climbed onto him and the metal band clicked in place when I placed it around the tree on his back.

I hopped off of him and picked up the last one, a metal band with waves designs crashing around a gray and blue stone. I walked towards Tor who lowered himself so I would be able to reach his cannons on his shell. I locked the band in place on his right cannon and backed away to view my pokemon with their new Mega Stones.

"Let see if this work." I pulled out a diamond shaped silver locket with a rainbow colored stone in the middle hanging from a black chain around my neck from under my dress. I put my hand over the Key Stone in the middle of the locket and several yellow bursts of light came from the stone.

The stone in Char's collar sprouted blue bursts of light and the two colors clashed with each other. Char was soon enveloped in a shell of pink energy.

When the shell shattered, Char now had bigger wings with a smaller pair of wings on his arms. A longer horn spiked between his two existing ones and spikes lined his tail. At the end of his tail, his flame glowed brighter. The pokemon standing before me was not my normal Charizard, but a Mega Charizard Y.

"Yes!" I squealed. I tapped the Key Stone again and Char reverted back to his out self. I repeated the same thing with Saur and when the pink energy dispersed, Saur's flower grew bigger with more leaves surrounding it. Vines connected the flower to the leaves and Saur grew in size in general.

I tapped my keystone and Saur went back to his old self and Mega evolved Tor. After the shell of energy broke, the two cannons on his shell became one. His arms were protected with a shell on each on his arms with a small cannon on each of them. His skin changed into a deeper blue while his facial features became sharper than they were.

"Perfect." I tapped the Key Stone and tor went back to what he was. "With your new Mega Evolutions, we can get even stronger!" I exclaimed.

"If you can control it." a voice said.

"Who's there?" I whipped around towards the source of the voice. All of my pokemon began growling.

"Relax, it's just me." Calem came out from the shadow of a tree.

"What do you want?" I folded my arms over my chest. I raised a hand and my pokemon stopped growling.

"Saw you running out here. I just came to see why." Calem shrugged.

"Was it necessary for you to hide while watching me?" I asked.

"Maybe. I was just wondering what you were doing." Calem shrugged. "How long did it take you to find these?" he went over to my pokemon, pointing at their Mega Stones.

"A couple of months. I had to go to several ruins to find them." I answered.

"And your Key Stone?" Calem walked up very close to me.

"I-it was a gift. From Professor Sycamore." I backed away.

"Really?" he looked skeptical.

"Yes, really. Why do you even care?" I asked.

"Because I also have one." Calem pulled up his left sleeve to reveal a Mega Bracelet.

"So? You're from Kalos. I almost expected you to have one." I retorted.

"Want to see my pokemon?" he asked.

"Why for?" I replied.

"To show you, of course." Calem winked. He released all of his pokemon. I only saw his Salamè before. But the rest of his pokemon were just as impressive. I didn't notice before, but his Charizard also had a collar on it. But instead of a Charizardite Y, he had a Charizardite X. I looked at his other pokemon, they all had Mega Stones as well, except for his Chesnaught.

"So your pokemon have Mega Stones. Big deal." I rolled my eyes.

"It should be." Calem smirked.

"Listen, I would love to stay and hear how humble you are," I said sarcastically "But I have to go." I recalled my pokemon and started to walk back to the house.

"Leaving so soon? Scared that my pokemon are more powerful than yours?" he called out.

I froze. He did not that say that, did he? I turned on my heel and glared at him while Pika was growling. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me, you're worried that in a battle, you would lose to me." Calem smirked.

"You are going to regret saying that. I challenge you to a battle tomorrow. One-on-one, no substitutes, winner is the one who knocks the pokemon on the other side out." I marched back to him, poking him in the chest after each word.

"Deal." he looked me right in the eyes.

"And to give you a little advantage, I'll tell you which pokemon I'll be using. Good luck going against my Pika." I said before I turned around. "You'll be needing it." I said to him before walking back to the house.

When I got to the Cheri blossom tree, I grabbed the lowest branch and swung myself up to the next branch until I got to my balcony. I opened the doors and quietly closed them. I quickly changed into my pajamas and flopped down on my bed. Pika curled up next to my head and instantly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, I was still awake. Stupid Calem, how dare he insult me that way? I'll show him how powerful I am. First it was how I take care of my pokemon and now it's how I train them. He is so frustrating! I let out a sigh before closing my eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

 **Hehe. How do you guys like that chapter? I was planning that little scene on the cliffside for a while now. Who doesn't love a kiss scene between two people who hate each other?**

 **I'm still writing most of the chapters right now, so updates will be very slow. But please be patience. It will be all worth it.**

 **Tell me your opinion on this story and/or chapter. I really want to hear form you guys and what you want to say.**

 **If any of you are confused, just read the past chapters because they hold a lot of information that this story will be based on.**

 **If any of you want to send in a cover picture of your own, just PM me and I'll see if it works for the story.**

 **Don't forget about my contest going on. Clues are Girlfriend, What the Hell, Sk8er Boi, Complicated, When You're Gone, Fly, Hello Kitty, and they're all songs with a singer with the initials A.L. Good luck! Shoutout to the first one who gets it right!**

 **And don't forget to just click that review button! I want to hear what you're thinking!**

 **-AKCC signing out!**


	5. Battle & A New Mission

**Hey there guys! I know I've updated like twice already within a week, but I want to do another one.**

 **If you haven't heard, I've posted two new stories up. You should really check them out! And I added them up on my poll so don't forget to vote!**

 **I've just finished another chapter for Runaway Life and I felt like almost crying. I won't tell you why though. You just to wait for Chapter Fourteen.**

 **In this chapter, it's basically my very first battle scene so I'm not sure if it's good or not, so I apologize in advance if it's super crappy and boring!**

 **Anyways, let's do the disclaimer before getting to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: AKCC does not own any part of Pokemon except for her own OC, Ashley/Scarlett.**

* * *

Chapter Five

 **Ashley's POV**

I woke up the next morning to find Leaf staring at me next to my face.

"AH!" I fell out of bed. Pika landed on top on my stomach.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I exclaimed.

"Just looking at you." Leaf shrugged.

"I know, but why are you doing it?" I asked, scrambling to get on my feet.

"Ashley! Are you alright? We heard a scream and- oh. That explains why." Kris, Hilda, and Rosa came running to my door with worried looks, but they calmed down when they saw Leaf standing next to me.

"Can someone explain to me what is going on?" I asked.

"It's simple. It's a tradition here." Rosa said.

"Yeah. Whenever we have a new girl here, Leaf would wake up very early and stare at them in their sleep to 'see potential' as she would put it." Kris explained.

"If it's a new boy, than Argent does it. First time I got here, I almost had a heart attack when I saw Leaf staring at me." Hilda said.

"That sounds creepy." I said.

"Trust me. It is." Kris nodded.

"But she doesn't do it so early." Hilda pointed out.

"The only reason for me getting up at three in the morning is because I saw her running from the forest at midnight last night." Leaf pointed at me. I gulped. Exactly how many people saw last night?

"That does sound weird." Hilda said.

"What were you doing out there that late at night?" Rosa asked.

"Oh, I was just-"

"Eeeekkkk!" I got cut off by a scream.

"Amber!" everyone ran out of my room and into Amber's. When we all got to her room, she was hiding under her covers while a giant yellow spider was hanging upside from the ceiling, looking straight at her.

"What happened?" All the boys came in right behind us.

"Oh, so that's where you were, Tula." Hilbert said. He pulled out a pokeball and recalled his Galvantula into it.

Hilda stomped up behind him and smacked him upside the head. "Why was your Galvantula even out?" she asked.

"Ow!" Hilbert rubbed his head. "I was just letting him get some fresh air."

"And in the process, you scared poor Amber!" Hilda grabbed his ear and dragged him out of the room. Rosa and Nate sweatdropped as they followed their sister out of the room.

I looked over to see Leaf comforting Amber while Kris and Ethan already left the room. Silver disappeared without a trace so that left me with-

"So that's what you sleep in." Calem said.

I realize that I was still in my tank top and long pajama pants I was sleeping in. "P-pervert." I blushed.

"Hope you're not wearing that for our battle. It's already embarrassing to see you lose. You don't want to lose in your pajamas." Calem said before walking out the room.

And the embarrassment turned in rage.

"Don't let him get to you." Amber said. I turned around to see her sitting up in bed.

"Yeah. Just show him what a girl can do!" Leaf exclaimed. She was standing next to Amber's bed.

"Why me?" I walked over to them. I sat down on the edge of Amber's bed. "Haven't you guys battled him before?"

"I'm not really that strong." Amber said quietly.

"We have, but he beat us all." Leaf sat down next to me. "But since you're here, you can have a chance of beating him."

"Now I have all this pressure on me." I said jokingly.

"Don't worry. You'll do great." Leaf said. "Now go get dress. He's waiting for you outside." she pulled me up from the bed and pushed me into my room.

"Wah!" I tripped and fell on my face as Leaf closed the door.

"Pika pi?" Pika looked at me confused.

"Amber screamed. Hilbert's Tula. And I got to beat Calem." I quickly explained as I got up. I went into my closet and got dressed for the day.

"Come on Pika!" I called out. Pika hopped onto my shoulder as I dashed out of my room.

I got into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Hold up!" I saw Kristee, Leaf and Amber running towards the elevator. Well, Kristee and Leaf ran. Amber was being dragged since she was still a bit drowsy.

I placed my hand through the doors before they could close.

"Thanks." Leaf panted as she, Kris, and Amber all got in the elevator.

"No problem, but why are you guys so out of breath?" I asked as the doors closed.

"Leaf was busy trying to get Argent to crossdress." Kristee pointed to her.

"What? He looks so cute in dresses!" Leaf squealed.

"He's practically your brother. Why would you do that?" Amber asked.

"Because he's my little brother and I want him to look cute!" Leaf retorted.

"Is she always like this?" I whispered to Kristee.

"She's practically anime and manga obsessed." she whispered back. "She would crossdress Argent and ship people together."

Should I tell her? Nah, she'll find out what Leaf did sooner or later. I just hope it doesn't happen to me.

We got off the elevator when the doors opened to the first floor. We went into the kitchen for breakfast to find it a mess.

"What happened?" Amber asked, looking at Ethan, Hilbert, and Rald, who were all covered in batter.

"It was his fault!" they each pointed to each other.

"What the hell?" Hilda gasped as she, Rosa, and Nate walked in after us.

"Can one of you tell me what happened here?!" Kristee demanded.

"Um, well, you see." Hilbert backed away from a furious Kristee.

"Ethan, why don't you tell her?" Rald pushed him in front of Hilbert and him.

"Why me?!" Ethan exclaimed.

"Knowing you, you're the one who caused this mess." Nate said.

"Geez, thanks for the support." Ethan gritted through his teeth, glaring at Nate.

"Enough!" I shouted. "You better explain what happened before my dad walked in and-"

"And what?" as if on cue, Dad walked into the kitchen. He went wide-eyed at the sight of the kitchen.

"Ethan did it!" Everyone pointed their finger at him.

We watched as my dad's face became a bright red and I swear I saw steam coming out of his ears.

"He's going to blow!" I exclaimed, grabbing Amber, Leaf, and Kris and ducking behind a counter that wasn't covered in batter. Hilda, Rosa, and Nate followed as as we braced for the explosion to come.

"ETHAN HIBIKI! HOW DID YOU EVEN GET THE KITCHEN THIS WAY!? YOU ARE GOING TO CLEAN THIS ENTIRE MESS UP BEFORE I COME BACK HERE!"

I flinched with every stomp Dad took as he stormed out of the kitchen.

"When was the last time he was that mad?" Hilbert asked, rubbing his ear.

"WHAT?" Rald shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"I'll take care of him." Amber said as she escorted Rald out of the room to heal his hearing.

"Is he okay?" I pointed to Ethan, who was frozen and all color were drained from his face.

"Oh he'll be fine." Leaf said as she threw an apple at me, which I barely caught in time. "We'll make sure he'll clean the kitchen. You just head outside and get started with your battle."

"Battle?" Hilbert perked up at the word.

"Who are you battling?" Kristee asked.

"Calem." I answered, taking a bite out of my apple.

"Good luck." Rosa said.

"You're going to need it." Nate added.

"Why are you guys doubting me?" I felt insulted. "I was able to beat all the pokemon league with just the final evolved forms of the Kanto starters and my Pikachu. I can handle the winner of the Kalos Junior Tournament."

"Ignore them. They just look up to him as a battle role model."Hilda explained. "But if you can beat him, than you can be their new role model."

"Thanks Hilda." I said. I finished off my apple as Pika finished the apple Leaf also gave her.

"I'm heading out now, but you guys should see me battle when you're done!" I ran out of the kitchen and outside.

When I walked outside, I saw Calem on one of the battlefields.

There were six battlefields, two lined the perimeter of the yard each, minus the side with the house. Near the door to the house was a grand patio set with a bonfire pit, grill, chairs, sofas, and a table. In the center of the yard was a pool. Not just any pool, a pool that can fit five Wailord in there.

"Took you long enough." Calem said as I ran up to the battlefield farthest from the house. Couldn't this guy chose a closer spot?

"Sorry, but I had to take care of something while you were out here doing nothing." I placed my hands on my hips.

"And what would that be?" Calem asked.

"If you didn't hear my dad yell from all the way out here than I'm not telling you. That yell could be heard all the way in Unova." I said.

"Oh. That." Calem said.

"Yes, that." I said. "Let's start the battle already."

"Alright." Calem nodded. We went to opposite sides of the field and stood across from each other.

"Get ready Pika! Let's show him what we got!" I exclaimed as Pika jumped off my shoulder and in front of me in the battlefield.

"Ka pika pi chu!" Pika said, her cheek sacs sparking with electricity. A determined look was visible on her face.

"Marisso! Time to take them down!" calem sent out his pokemon.

"Ches!" his Chesnaught roared when it came out of his pokeball.

"You're using your Chesnaught? This should be an interesting battle." I smirked.

"Yes it should. As a gentleman, I'll you have the first move." Calem offered.

"Oh, how kind of you." I rolled my eyes. "Let's give it all we got! Pika, use Quick Attack!" I ordered.

"Wait for it." Calem said. Pika shot towards Marisso with a streak of white light following her. Marisso just stood there doing nothing.

It wasn't until PIka got close to Marisso when Calem ordered an attack. "Now! Use Spiky Shield!"

Marisso put both of his arms in front of him and a shield formed. Several thorns spiked out of the shield.

"Go to the right!" I said quickly. Pika was able to avoid the spikes and got behind Chesnaught. "Knock it down with Iron Tail!"

"Pika!" Pika exclaimed as her tail glowed a metallic white and swung it at one of Marisso's leg. She hit him behind his knee and he fell forward.

"Marisso! Quick! Use Grass Knot!" Calem ordered. When Marisso was on the ground, his eyes glowed green and two blades of grass shot from the earth and pulled Pika down, pinning her to the ground.

"Pika!" I cried out.

"Get up! Now use Hammer Arm!" Calem commanded. Marisso stood back up and lifted his arms high above his head, ready to bring them down on Pika.

"Pika! Use Thunderbolt!" I ordered quickly. Despite being not very effective, the shock was able to lessen the power of the Hammer Arm as the Chesnaught's arms slammed into Pika.

"Pika, are you okay?" I asked.

"Pi. Pikachu." she looked back at me. She was covered in a couple of scratches, but she was able to keep battling.

"Good! Now use Quick Attack!" I ordered. Pika obeyed and ran forward.

"Marisso, Mud Shot!" Calem ordered.

"What?!" I was shocked.

"Ches naught!" Marisso fired several blobs of mud straight at Pika. She was able to dodge most of them, but one hit her right in the face.

"Pika! Can you see?" I asked when she stopped rolling back.

"Pi." Pika tried to open her eyes, but to no avail. The mud was in the way.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you where to go." I said. I have complete trust in her and she has complete trust in me.

"Than you better act quick. Marisso, Wood Hammer!" Calem ordered. Chesnaught ran forward with his arm glowing green.

"Pika! Move to your right and Volt Tackle straight ahead!" I ordered. Pika shot over to the right and Marisso's Hammer Arm missed her. Pika ran towards Marisso covered in a yellow light and electricity. She slammed into the Chesnaught and he slid back to Calem.

"Get back up! We're not done!" Calem shouted to Marisso. "Use Grass Knot and tie that mouse down!" Marisso struggled to stand back up and his eyes glowed green again. Two blades of grass popped out from under Pika and prevented her from moving.

"Pika! Don't panic! Just use Thunderbolt! Aim it wide spread!" I shouted to her. She nodded and unleashed a Thunderbolt that went everywhere. A couple of stray bolts shocked Marisso.

"Ignore it! Use Hammer Arm while it's still pinned." Calem ordered.

"Ches." Marisso grunted. Even though he was still getting zapped, he ran towards Pika and slammed his arm into her.

"Pika!" I cried out as my poor pokemon rolled over to my side.

"Ches." Marisso didn't look to good either. Yellow sparks bounced off his body showing that he was paralyzed.

"Come on Marisso! Don't stand there and do nothing! Wood Hammer!" Calem ordered, clearly not noticing the state his pokemon was in.

"Ches." Marisso panted, exhausted from the battling. Slowly, he got up and his arm glowed green.

"STOP!" I screamed.

"What? Why?" Calem was confused. "Giving up?"

"What kind trainer are you? Do you even see the state your pokemon is in? He's tired, heavily injured, and paralyzed!" I pointed out. "Worst yet, you continue to push him past his limit! You order him to attack even though he can barely withstand the next attack!"

I walked onto the field and picked up Pika in my arms. "The battle is over. No one won or lost. It's a draw." I said to Calem before I turned back to the house and walked to it.

* * *

"How did he ever win that tournament? He's too reckless and pushes his pokemon too far." I mumbled to myself as I stepped inside the house.

"Ack! Geez, Super Serious Gal, there's not need to kick!" I heard Ethan yell from the kitchen.

"Than keep cleaning!" Kristee yelled back.

I walked into the kitchen to find it mainly clean. Leaf was standing to the side as Kristee stood over Ethan who was on all fours scrubbing the floor. The disturbing thing here was that he was wearing a maid's outfit.

"Why do I have to wear this again?" Ethan asked.

"You were the one who made the kitchen a mess and you're cleaning it up. Hilda and her siblings are busy cleaning Hilbert up because of your mess." Kristee answered.

"And the outfit why?" Ethan answered.

"Because I said so. I'm your senpai and you have to." Leaf stuck her tongue out.

Ethan looked deflated until he noticed me in the room. "Ashley! Can you help me out here?"

"Sorry, but I am having too much fun seeing you as this." I said as I walked over to the sink.

"So how did your battle go?" Leaf hopped next to me.

"It ended in a tie." I said as I placed Pika in the sink and turned on the faucet.

"What happened to her?" Leaf asked.

"She got a Mud Shot to the face. She can't see anything. Thank Arceus." I said as I washed the mud off Pika's face.

"We're back!" Hilda announced as she, Rosa, Nate, and Hilbert entered the kitchen.

"Holy Arceus!" Hilbert exclaimed. I turned around to see what he was yelling about and saw the backside of Ethan from under his dress since he was bend over.

"My eyes!" Leaf exclaimed as she covered her eyes. Hilda and Hilbert covered Rosa's and Nate's eyes as they squeezed their eyes shut.

"Ethan! What in the name of Arceus made you _not_ wear any pants or underwear under there?!" I exclaimed as I covered Pika's eyes while covering my own.

"Hehe. Just showing off for Kris here." Ethan said a s he stood up and shook his bare butt in front of us.

"Kris! Do something! I do not need my little sister and brother scared for life!" Hilda shouted.

"You pervert! There are pokemon and children in the room!" Kris said as she kicked Ethan in his butt.

He flew across the room and slammed into the wall. he slid down the wall and landed on his face. Unfortunately, due to gravity, the bottom of his dress dropped down, revealing his *ahem* _parts._

"Hey guys, what did I- Oh my Arceus!" Innocent Amber walked in with Rald following her.

"Amber! Cover your eyes!" Leaf exclaimed, taking her hands off her eyes for a second. She made the mistake of glancing at Ethan for a moment. "Ack! Someone make it stop!" she covered her eyes again.

"Ethan! Put some pants on!" Rald shouted as he covered his eyes with his sleeves.

"That girl, who does she think- Whoa." Calem stepped into the room and saw the scene in front of him.

"Calem! Do something! Anything! For the sake of everyone here!" I shouted.

"I don't-" Calem said.

"Just do something!" Kristee shouted at him. Like the rest of us, she also had her eyes covered when Ethan's dress slid down.

"Fine." Calem said. I heard some shuffling and someone walking. "Alright, I'm done. Everyone can uncover their eyes now."

We all did as he said, but we only saw Ethan in the same state as before. "Holy Arceus!" we all screamed.

"Calem! What kind of sick joke was that?!" I yelled at him, still covering Pika's eyes.

"Just part of my plan." Calem said casually. No doubt he also had his eyes covered.

"What kind of plan is that?!" Hilda shouted. "Now Rosa and Nate are going to be traumatized!"

"What is with all the yelling in here?" Argent walked in. "What the?"

"Argent! Do something! Please!" Leaf pleaded.

"Nee-san?" Argent said. "Ethan!"

"OW! STOP! OKAY I GET IT! I SAID I GOT IT!"

 **BAM!**

 **CRASH!**

 **SMASH!**

"Is it over?" Amber asked when the screams stopped.

"Yeah. The idiot's taken care of." Argent said.

"Thank Arceus." I sighed along with everyone else. I looked over where Ethan was to find him rolled up in a blanket like a cocoon.

"Is he dead?" Rald asked as he poked Ethan with one of his extendable hands.

"No. Just unconscious." Argent brushed the dust off his gloved hands.

"Hilda, I don't think I can sleep tonight." Rosa was pale.

"Me neither. I just can't look at another boy's thing." Nate was also pale.

"Don't worry. Musha should help with your nightmares." Hilbert said as he and Hilda helped Rosa and Nate upstairs.

"Nee-san, are you okay?" Argent asked.

"I'm fine. Just need to bash my head hard enough against a wall to forget that I ever saw that." Leaf said before she bolted out of the room. Argent followed her.

"Amber, can you do anything to get rid of that memory?" Rald asked.

"Unfortunately no." Amber shook her head. "I need to lay down." Rald helped her out of the room.

"If you guys can excuse me, I need to kill this idiot." Kristee said as she lifted the Ethan cocoon over her shoulder. She stormed out of the room and outside.

"Is she really going to kill him?" I sweatdropped.

"Nah. Worst case scenario, he's going to have a broken leg and arm." Calem shrugged.

"Good thing you didn't have to see that." I said to Pika who I was holding in my arms.

"So, what would your dad think when he finds out you saw a boy's thing?" Calem asked.

I stiffened up. Even when I was little, Dad was so overprotective of me. That's the reason why he gave me those pokemon eggs who later came my partners for protection whenever he's not around. If he was around and a boy was looking at me, he'll release his Charizard and scare the boy off.

"No, he cannot know about it!" I shook my head. "If he does, then I'm going to be locked in my room for the rest of my life!"

"Aren't you overreacting about this?" Calem raised a brow.

"No, I am not!" I shouted at him. "Just before I went off on my journey, he saw a boy flirting with me and he sent his Charizard after him! The boy ended up in the hospital needing stitches!"

"I think I saw that on the news." Calem scratched his head.

"You have to promise me that you won't my dad about what happened here." I pleaded.

"Why should I?" Calem asked.

"Please! I know that we got off to a rocky start, but right now, you're the only boy my dad trust the most to be around me." I said. "And if you tell him, he's going to punish you for not trying to save me from witnessing that!" I growled.

"Okay, I get it. I won't tell him." Calem said quickly.

"Good. Nice to know we got to an understanding." I said before walking out of the room.

I went up to the second floor and walked into my room.

 _Bam! Bam! Bam!_

"I guess Leaf wasn't kidding when she said that she was going to hit the wall with her head." I sweatdropped when I sat on my bed.

"Leaf! Can you stop slamming your head in the wall?! It's getting annoying!" I heard Kristee yell through the walls. Guess she's done with Ethan.

"Ashley?" Amber knocked on my door and opened it slightly, poking her head in. "Can you help me with Leaf? I think she's broken."

"Broken?" I was confused. That must not be good. "I'll help." I got off my bed and followed Amber into Leaf's room.

When I got in there, Leaf was hitting herself repeatedly into the wall, where there was a huge crack, while Argent was to the side trying to get her to snap out of it.

"Nee-san, stop it! You're hurting yourself!" Argent exclaimed.

"No! I have to get the image out of my head!" Leaf shouted before bringing her head to the wall again.

"How long has she been going at this?" I asked.

"Ever since the incident." Argent replied.

"I'm surprised that she didn't suffer brain damage already." Amber said.

"I think Ethan did some brain damage to all of us." I shuddered.

"Back to the matter here." Argent coughed.

"Right." I said, turning back to Leaf. "Pika, use Thunderbolt, but just give her a tiny shock. Enough to make her snap out of it." I ordered Pika.

"Are you sure about this?" Amber asked.

"Relax. It's fine. I've done this before on me before dozens of times." I said. "Sometimes, I have relapses of the accident where I lost my memories. Pika shocks me to make me snap out of it."

"Huh? Where am I?" Leaf looked around after Pika gave her a tiny zap.

"See? It worked." I said.

"You're in your room. You were hitting your head against the wall because-" I put my hand over Amber's mouth before she could say anymore.

"I would suggest not mentioning anything about the incident for at least about a week. If you do, she would just go back to hitting herself." I told her.

"Now I am really confused. And my head hurts." Leaf said.

"I'll tell you about it later." Argent said.

A beep from all of our pockets rang out. We each took out our Pokegear to see the message.

"Looks like Dad wants us to meet downstairs." I said.

"Why?" Amber asked. "I'm pretty sure none of us told him about what happened."

"It's probably for a mission." Argent said.

"Whatever it is, let's head downstairs for it." Leaf said.

We went downstairs and into the living where Dad, Calem, and Rald was waiting. Hilda, Hilbert, Rosa, and Nate came in after us.

"Almost everyone is here. All we're missing are Kristee and Ethan." Dad said.

"I'm here. I just need to get this idiot." Kristee walked in with Ethan still wrapped in a cocoon over her shoulder. He looked worst than he did before. he had a black eye, bruises all over his face, and his mouth was swollen.

"Not even going to ask about that." Dad said as Kristee threw Ethan onto one of the couches. "The reason why I called all of you here is because I have a new mission for two of you."

"What is it about?" Amber asked.

"According to recent reports, sightings of the legendary pokemon, Mew, have been spotted near Mt Silver." Dad said. Mew? That peaked my interest. And on Mt Silver too? This is too good to pass up.

"I have already chosen Calem for this mission, but I need one more person to do this with him." Dad said.

"I'll do it!" I said immediately.

"Are you sure?" Dad looked at me surprised.

"Yes, I'm sure. It would be a good first mission for me." I said.

"It involves a legendary pokemon. I would feel more comfortable of your first mission was one gathering information." Dad said.

"I can handle myself, Dad. I know Mt Silver inside and out. You don't know how many times I've been up there trying to find you after you disappeared." I countered. Dad and I had a stare down with each other. Even though he was my dad, I am not backing down.

"Fine." Dad finally gave in. "You do know the terrain better than anyone here. You'll be with Calem for the mission. The rest of you are dismissed."

I silently cheered to myself as everyone except for Dad, Calem, and I filed out of the room. I know I only been here for a little over a week, but I can take on an actual mission. Especially one where I have been hundreds of times.

"For this particular mission, you two have to stay for an extended amount of time." Dad said. "That means you will have to camp outside for about two weeks. Separately." he directed the last comment to Calem.

"Dad, stop it. I've been camping before. I can handle myself." I said, trying to get him from glaring at Calem any longer.

"You have nothing to worry about sir. I won't do anything to your daughter." Calem said.

"You better not." Dad growled.

"Okay, why don't we talk about the mission again?"I laughed nervously, pushing Dad away from Calem.

"Right." Dad cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Mew has been sighted around Mt Silver. I worry that poachers will try to capture it. It's your mission to find Mew and protect it from any harm until you can convince it to teleport somewhere else safe." he explained.

"Sounds simple." Calem said.

"Be careful though. Over the last several years, pokemon from native regions have been seen around Mt Silver." Dad said.

"There has?" Calem said.

"You know nothing, do you?" I raised a brow at him. "Trainers who tried to scale Mt Silver release their pokemon out of anger of not being able conquer the mountain or finding the missing Kanto Champion. The released pokemon bred with the native pokemon in the area and thus, pokemon from other regions are found around Mt Silver since some of the trainers are from different regions." I explained.

"You know a lot about that." Calem looked surprised.

"As I said, I've been to Mt Silver a lot to look for my dad. While there, I always see trainers blaming their pokemon and releasing them because they were too weak to reach the peak of the mountain." I said.

"It makes me sick; trainers blame their pokemon for the mistakes _they_ made." I spat out. "They take out their anger in their pokemon, calling them names, hurting them, and then releasing them into the wild in a habitat where they know nothing about; having to rely on the pity of some the pokemon there just to survive. But some are not so lucky. Some are just too weak and run into pokemon stronger than them." I tried to push away all of those memories and pain I saw at Mt Silver too many times.

A long silence filled the air. Guess I got a bit too intense.

"Well, you two should get to bed right now, you're leaving early tomorrow morning." Dad broke the silence.

I nodded and headed upstairs with Pika in my arms. I walked into my room and quickly changed into my pajamas. I climbed into bed and went to sleep.

* * *

 **Okay, at first I was not planing to write that part about Ethan, but it ended up in there for some reason and there you go. A houseful of traumatized kids.**

 **I just realized that these kids had birthdays so I'm making them age anymore until a certain point in the story. If I chose to do it now, then it would cause so much rewriting and stuff like that. I'm lazy, so what?**

 **So like I said, there's two new stories I posted so check them out and vote on my poll.**

 **Remember, if you like my stories, then fav and/or follow them and/or me! And please review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. That goes for all my stories!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	6. Arrival on Mt Silver

**What's up? I'm back and it felt like forever since I've updated anything even though it has only been a week. Ah, Black Friday really took a lot out of me. Especially since my Thanksgiving was really crappy.**

 **But my super extended weekend wasn't all that bad! I was able to buy Pokemon Alpha Sapphire on sale! But I can't play it until I unwrap it on Christmas morning. Why?!**

 **I can survive though. I have done it several times already.**

 **But enough about that. Let's just get on with the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I, AKCC, do not, I repeat, do not, have not, and will not own any parts of Pokemon. That goes to their creator and owner, Game Freak.**

* * *

Chapter Six

 **Scarlett's POV**

"I thought we would never leave." X shouted over the wind as we were flying through the air.

"That's because you had to make that comment of us sleeping in the same tent." I yelled over to him. "My dad looked like he was about to kill you!"

"Keyword there being 'about'." X pointed out.

"Only because you threw me on top of Char and told him to fly off after you took off!" I exclaimed.

"Anything to keep me alive." X simply said.

"Than don't say perverted things about me in front of my dad." I retorted.

"But it's fun." X had his Charizard fly in a loop in front of me.

"That 'fun' will end you up in a ditch six feet under." I said as Char flew past them.

"Or at an altar with you." X said.

"When Diglett fly." I felt my face get warmer as the blood flowed to my face.

"Come on. You know it's true." X sang out behind me.

"It is not true. It is not going to happen." I shouted back to him.

"Keep telling yourself that." X yelled as he flew past me.

"That guy! Char catch up to him!" I ordered Char. He obeyed and flew at top speed with a cry of his name.

"Catch me if you can!" X stuck his tongue out at me when I was almost neck-to-neck with him. He flew off even faster.

"The nerve of him!" a tick mark appeared on my head. "Char, I do not care what it takes, he is not getting away unscathed!" I growled. As if Char read my mind, he roared and flew after X and his Charizard.

When we were right behind him, X and his Charizard went into a sudden nosedive. I had Char dive as well and still chased after him. We dodged and weaved through some trees until X completely disappeared.

"What the?" I was shocked to see him disappear when I was right behind him. I had Char land in a clearing.

"Pika pi?" Pika asked.

"Char, return. You deserve a good rest after all your flying." I took out Char's pokeball and recalled him.

"Pi?" Pika looked at me.

"We're at Mt Silver, that's for sure." I looked up at the looming mountain above me. "But that jerk left me alone here. When I get my hands on him, he's going to-"

"Boo."

"Eeeekkkk!" I screamed. I jumped high in the air and landed in someone's arms.

"I knew you would end up in my arms sooner or later." I looked up to see whose arms I landed in.

"You jackass!" I slapped X's face.

"Is that how you thank me?" X asked with a red handprint on his cheek.

"Thank you?! First, insult me. Than you leave me behind. Next, you sneaked up on me. Now, you scared the hell out of me! And put me down right now!" I yelled.

"One, you should thank me, we got to Mt Silver faster and two, whatever you say." he dropped me.

"Ah!" I landed on the ground with my butt breaking my fall. "Jerk." I glared at him while rubbing my butt.

"You said to put you down, and I did." X said.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend." I said as I stood up.

"Who said that I didn't?" X looked at me.

"Than I feel sorry for her." I rolled my eyes.

"You do? And I thought that kiss sealed the deal." X smirked. I felt my face get warmer.

"I thought we agreed to never speak about that again!" I hissed.

"Whatever. I'm stilling counting it." X shrugged.

"We are not dating! Dating means you ask me out and I accept." I corrected him.

"So will you go on a date with me?" X asked.

"When Diglett fly." I replied. I walked away from him and into the forest.

"Race ya!" X ran past me.

"To where?" I called after him. Does that guy ever think?

A fast movement passed back in the corner of my eye. When I looked to see what it was, I saw nothing. I noticed an area in the trees were it was a bit warped and blurred, but not completely clear. I smiled at it, sending it a silent message. With that, it disappeared.

"What are you doing?" X backtracked up to me.

"Nothing." I looked back to him. "And can you stop running off? We're on a mission _together._ " I pointed out.

"But you are just so slow." X said as we walked together.

"We're on a mission to take down poachers and protect Mew. Those things aren't really marked on a map." I folded my arms over my chest.

"You never know." X shrugged.

"Oh yeah. Like moving people and a legendary pokemon would be on a tourist guide. Especially one on a place where only the best trainers can reach." I rolled my eyes, my voice dripped with sarcasm.

"It can ha-Aah!" I looked next towards X to find that he was gone.

"Uh, X?" I looked around, wondering where he is.

"Up here!" I looked up to see X hanging in a net.

"Pffff!" I tried to cover my laughter. Which failed. "Hahaha!"

"It's not funny!" X exclaimed.

"You're calling you, hanging in a net from a tree, not funny?" I raised a brow.

"Just get me down from here!" X whined.

"Why should I? You always leave me behind. I should do it to you for once." I started to walked away.

"Wait! Don't leave me up here!" X exclaimed. I stopped and smirked at myself.

"Alright. I'll let you down, but on one condition." I turned around to face him.

"Alright! Anything! Just get me down!" X exclaimed.

"Why are you so frantic about this? Are you scared of heights or something?" I asked.

"..." X looked away from me.

"Oh my Arceus, you are! You're afraid of heights!" I exclaimed.

"Okay! I'm afraid of heights! Happy?" X said.

"Very. I just have something to blackmail you with." I shrugged.

"Just don't tell anyone!" X pleaded.

"Fine. But it's just one more condition I have to add when I get you down from there." I said.

"Fine!" X exclaimed. "Just tell me what they are so you can get me down!"

"Okay. One, you stop acting superior to everyone and two, anything personal between us stays between us." I stated.

"I can't make a definite promise on the first one, but I'll try and for the second one, deal." X nodded.

"Good." I nodded. "Pika, cut the net with Iron Tail."

"W-Wait! Wah!" X exclaimed when Pika climbed up the net. She slashed the top of the net with her Iron Tail and X fell to the ground.

"What? I got you down. Just like I said." I put my arms on my hips as Pika climbed back on my shoulder.

"I didn't mean it like that." X said as he stood up.

"Than you should've said it more clearly~!" I said to him in a sing-song voice.

"Whatever. What's a net doing in the middle of a forest anyways?" X asked. I had to resist the urge to facepalm.

"X, there has been reports of poachers here. Poachers use nets. That net was set up here by a poacher." I pieced the pieces together for him.

"Right. I forgot." he said.

"Let's just get going." I said as I led the way. "And don't forget your promises~!"

"Oh joy."

* * *

After traveling through the forest at the base of Mt Silver, we found no trace of Mew. We did disarm several poacher traps though. I had to take care of all the nets though. After X's little incident, I guess he was traumatized for the moment.

Since it was getting dark, we decided to set up camp for the night.

"Alright! We get to rest!" X said as he threw down his bag in the clearing.

"Oh no you don't!" I stopped him from laying down. "We still need to get a fire going and dinner for us and our pokemon. You go get the firewood while I'll start on the food."

"Why do I have to get the wood?" X whined.

"Do you know how to cook?" I asked him. He stayed silent. "I thought so. Now go. And Saur is going with you. He can help you carry all the firewood." I threw Saur's pokeball in the air and he appeared.

"Fine. You better have something good when I get back." X grumbled.

"And you should let your pokemon out too. I have to make something for them too." I said as I let out the rest of my pokemon.

"Okay." X said as he let out his pokemon.

"Good. Now go. We need a fire for tonight."I said as I set my bag down.

"Alright. Come on Saur." X said as he walked into the forest.

"Ven!" Saur followed him.

"Now that he's gone. I can get some work done." I sighed. I looked towards my pokemon. "You guys know what to do. Tor, you get some water ready. Pika and Char, can you guys get some berries? I need it to make your food."

"Blast."

"Char."

"Pika." they nodded and went off to do their own things.

I looked towards X's pokemon.

"I know that you guys aren't use to doing this kind of stuff, but can you do a couple of things for me, please?" I asked them.

They looked at each other before nodding. "Oh thank you! First, Lasma, can you patrol the area so no nocturnal pokemon will disturb us?"

"Gen." he nodded and disappeared.

"Next, Salamè, can you clear up this place a bit? I need an area to work in." I asked. He nodded and flapped his wings so all the dust and twigs cleared out of the clearing.

"Great! Marisso, can you make a wall out of earth or something? I don't want to wake up with X next to me." he nodded and pounded his fists in the ground. Layers of dirt rose and formed a little wall that indicated two separate sleeping areas big enough for a Snorlax to sleep in.

"And finally, Kanga, Li'l Kanga, can you two help me prepare dinner? Eléc, when it starts to get dark and X hasn't come back yet, can you light up the place with your electricity?" I asked. They both nodded.

"You guys are such a big help to me!" I exclaimed. I took out a pot from a bag and some other ingredients.

I handled the soup X and I was going to share while Kanga prepared a mix of berries for the pokemon to eat. Li'l Kanga helped her out by passing her the berries Pika and Char gathered. While we were making dinner, the rest of the pokemon talked amongst themselves. I saw Char and Salamè talking while Pika was playing with Eléc. Tor finished getting the water and now, he was having a small wrestling match with Marisso.

"We're back! Ahh!"' X walked back into the clearing, but Lasma appeared right in front of him, making X drop all of his firewood.

"Ge ge gengar!" Lasma laughed.

"Lasma! I told you not to do that!" X exclaimed.

"Oh don't be mad at him. He was just having some fun." I said as I had Saur put the firewood in the middle of a ring of rocks in the middle of the clearing. Both Charizard lit the wood up so there was a good fire going.

"If 'fun', you mean giving me a heart attack." X said as he sat down.

"Don't you ever have some fun with your pokemon? Like just hanging out with them or playing with them?"I gestured to his and my pokemon playing with each other.

"I never noticed. They seemed fine before." X shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him while I told Kanga and Li'l Kanga to pass out the berry dishes.

I smiled as I watched the pokemon enjoy their food in peace while enjoying each other's company.

I heard X's stomach growl. "Speaking of food, where's our?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes at him. "It's just about done." I looked back at the pot over the fire which was boiling and steaming. I got out two bowls and scooped some soup in each of them. I handed a bowl to X while keeping one to myself.

I sat down on a log and ate while watching the pokemon ran around and play when they finished eating.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked X.

"Shoot." X said as he set down his empty bowl.

"Why are you afraid of heights?"

"Why do you want to know that?" X replied as he turned away from me.

"Come on! I saw how you panicked back there! Plus, as stated in our agreement, anything personal would just stay between us. I promise not to tell anyone that you are or why you're afraid of heights." I said.

"Fine." he sighed. "It all started when I was little. I was playing with my cousin when these two big pokemon began to attack our town. My cousin and I managed to escape from the chaos, but I got scooped up by one of them. I hung onto it as it flew high into the sky. We were so high up, I couldn't see anything on the ground. The next thing I knew, I was free falling in the air. While I was falling, I passed out. When I woke up, I was in a bed in another town while my cousin went to a summer camp in another region to forget what happened."

"That sounds awful." I said. "But at least you could've remembered what happened to you. I know nothing before my dad and I moved."

"So you can't remember your mom or the incident?" X asked.

"No." I shook my head. "I only know what happened from what my dad told me. Apparently, I was in a car crash with my mom and dad. We were driving, but a truck went down the wrong side of the road and slammed into us. My mom died while I was severely injured. My dad decided it was a bad idea to stay in Pallet Town any longer, so we moved." I explained.

"You can't a single detail of the incident?" he asked.

"Not really. I do remember a bright light and then sudden darkness though. That's all I remember." I said.

"What about the five years before that?"

"I told you, I lost all of my memories. I know nothing." I said.

"That must be harsh."

"Wow. Thanks for prying into my life and then being so blunt about it." I said sarcastically.

"It's just my job." X leaned back, locking his fingers behind his head.

I rolled my eyes at him and pulled out a basket from my bag. "Hey guys! Come over here! I have a treat for all of you!" I called my pokemon and X's pokemon.

They all came over and looked at me. I opened up the basket and placed a small cake in front of each of them.

"What's that?" X asked.

"Aren't you suppose to be from Kalos?" I looked at him. "These are Pokepuffs. It's my own recipe."

"I have heard of Pokepuffs before, but I never seen any like those." X said as he looked at the pokemon happily eat them.

"That's because I added a little twist to mines." I winked. "It's a pokefood cake with sweet poffin icing on top. To top it off, I added a pokeblock and some crushed ones for sprinkles."

"A classic Kalos treat with added elements from Sinnoh and Hoenn. I think no one ever tried that before." X commented.

"That's because most people wouldn't take the time to travel the regions and learn their cultures. I did and mixed them together to make something new." I replied.

"That sounds like too much work to me." X yawned.

"You are so lazy." I rolled my eyes at him. "It's already dark. We better go to sleep." I said. I returned all of my pokemon except for Char and Pika.

"You're right." X returned his pokemon as well except for his Charizard.

"You still on that side and I still on mines." I pointed to the layers of dirt Marisso dug up. "I don't want any funny stuff to happen while I'm sleeping." I said while I was getting a blanket.

"Is this really necessary?" X asked as he went on his side.

"If I come home pregnant somehow, my dad will kill you." I said as I sat down next to Char.

"Seriously? Pregnant?" he raised a brow.

"You do not know the things I had to face while traveling."I shook my head. "I had to dodge crazy fanboys everywhere I went. In fact, I didn't expect you to be my first kiss ever."

"I was your first kiss?" X looked surprised.

"My dad always drove boys away and I never connected with anyone while traveling." I said simply.

""You have a weird life." X said as he leaned back on his Charizard.

"Which has now gotten weirder." I said and as I relaxed on Char's stomach. Pika curled up next to me as I pulled the blanket over the both of us. I closed my eyes as I felt Char's warmth radiate from his body as I fell asleep.

* * *

 **Very short chapter I know, but this is just the beginning of their mission. More action will come in the rest of the chapters which will hopefully be longer.**

 **By the way, does anyone have a suggestion for a school name using the initials A, M, and G? I am coming up with nothing. The school name can be titled using those three letters, heck, you can use A for academy, but I need a really good name using only those letters as the short name for a school. Please help me with it!**

 **I tried my best to try and tie in what happened in Vaniville Town in Pokemon Adventures so I want to know what you guys think. And a shout out to whoever guess who is X's cousin. Remember, this story is how I'm connecting the anime, mange, and games.**

 **As for the Pokepuffs, the pokefood cake is basically a favored cake that suppose to taste like those brown food pellets they serve pokemon in the anime. I have no other way to describe it.**

 **I'm also thinking of cancelling the contest I had in this story previously since all of you are either can't use a simple thing called the internet or are just haters. So that thing is done while whoever guesses X's cousin will get a shout out.**

 **That's it for this chapter so tell me what you think! I love to hear your comments! Just write a little review and I will be very thankful!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	7. A New Power & A New Friend

**Happy Valentine's Day, or as I like to call it, Singles' Awareness Day. I hope all of you are either cozening up with a good fanfic or with your significant other and having a lovely time together since I'm not. That damn Valentine's dance didn't do anything for me at all to help! I am so lonely! *curls up in a corner***

 **Ashley: Get a hold of yourself woman! You still got a chapter to introduce!**

 **AKCC: Fine Fine! Geez.**

 **I know that many of you are reading this story and I like to announce that we passed the 1,000 read mark for this one! Of course that happened a while ago, but still!**

 **I also like to point out something I said about two chapters ago. I said that the characters won't age until I say so, but they are aging from the beginning of the story. I also changed Gold/Ethan's and Silver/Argent's age to both of them being 14. I also updated the second chapter with their ages.**

 **There is going to be a full list of the characters' age and birthdays at the end of the chapter. Until then enjoy the chapter! I don't own any part of Pokemon.**

 **Now if you excuse me, I have to drown myself in frozen yogurt and cake frosting.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Mmph." I opened my eyes to see the end of Char's tail. I looked down at the blanket, but it wasn't mines. This one was blue while the one I had was red. I looked around and saw Pika and Char sleeping on the other side.

 _'If they're over there, than where am I?'_ I thought. I turned around to my other side to sleep X sleeping next to me.

"Aaaaah!" I screamed. I stood up and backed away from the two.

"What! What happened!" X shot up.

 _Slap!_

"You pervert!" I slapped him across his face.

"What was that for?" X rubbed his face.

"You!" I pointed a shaky finger at him. "I thought I told you stay over at your side! And yet, you carried me over to sleep next to you!"

"What are you talking about? I never left this spot!" X exclaimed.

"Than how did I get over here? I would never choose to sleep next to you!" I placed my hands on my hips.

"I don't know. Maybe the universe just wants us to be together." X said as he stood up. He placed his hands behind his head.

I opened my mouth to speak when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. "Or something else except for Arceus who just wants to mess with us." I glared at it before it disappeared.

"Whatever it was, it also gave us a wake up call." X said.

"Yeah, whatever." I sighed. "Let's just eat breakfast and head out."

After a quick breakfast consisting of berries, we cleaned up our stuff and ventured back into forest, looking for Mew and poachers.

After a couple of minutes of walking, I noticed that the path got smaller and the trees bunched together.

"Hey X, Are you sure-"I looked to ask X something, but he was gone. I noticed that Pika was also gone!

"Oh crap! We must have gotten separated at the fork in the road!" I exclaimed. I took a couple of deep breaths. "Calm down, you've been here a million times. You know your way around here." I walked ahead.

Only to fall down in a pit.

"Except for that." I rubbed my behind. I looked up to see the sunlight about 10 feet above me. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes. The pit wasn't wide enough to let Char out and fly me out. Climbing out wasn't an option either since the top was too high.

"Great. How am I supposed to get out now?" I grumbled to myself. As I was complaining to myself. I notice the top of the hole being blocked by something.

"Wait!" I yelled, but it was no use. I was in complete darkness now. I couldn't see anything and I'm pretty sure X can't hear me. Hopefully he'll realize I'm missing.

I began to have a panic attack since it felt like the darkness was just squeezing me. I held my head in my hands. "No. No!" I squeezed my eyes shut.

" _A...h! Help!"_

" _Ashley! No!"_

" _GGGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAOOOOO!"_

" _Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"_

All of a sudden, I saw light filter through my eyelids and someone was pulling me up. When I felt that I was on solid ground again, I opened my eyes to see X staring back at me. He was holding my shoulders while we were both on the ground.

"Are you okay?" X asked, his face was full of concern.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." I nodded my head. I wrapped my arms around myself.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You tell me. One minute, you were walking next to me, and the next, you were gone. After realizing that, I fell down that hole and something covered it." I answered.

"I didn't know you were gone until I turned back. I went back and went the other road until I heard you screaming from under that boulder." X said as he pointed to a large boulder near the hole.

"I was screaming?" I didn't knew that I was.

"Yeah. I had Marisso tie a rope around me and pull me up so I could get you out." X nodded.

"Thanks for saving me than." I said. "I thought I knew my way around here, but I guess I was wrong."

"It's okay." he pulled me in a hug. I felt my face heat up as I took in the smell of his shirt. "Everyone makes mistakes. Some people just make bigger ones than others. Like you."

"Jerk!" I pushed him away.

"Let's just get going." X said as he stood up. He offered me a hand , but I slapped it away.

"And when I thought he changed." I mumbled to myself as I stood up.

We walked back to the fork in the road where X insisted that we take the path he took.

"Just because I fell down a hole, doesn't mean I have to listen to you." I glared at X.

"We're going this way because wherever you take us, one of us ends up in a trap." X pointed out.

"That's because there's poachers here. The same poachers we're suppose to capture." I retorted.

"Exactly the reason why we are not getting separated again." X grabbed my hand and started to drag me down the path.

I tried to get out of his grip, but his hold was too strong.

I was forced to comply when I gave up trying to get out of his grip and when he dragged me for about 30 minutes.

"Arg!" I felt a sharp pain in my head and collapsed to the ground.

"Scarlett!" I heard X exclaim.

 _Help! Help! Help us!_ several voices cried out.

"What the?" I tried to look around to see where the voices were coming from. I winced in pain as the voices got louder when I turned to the bushes to the side of X and I.

Without warning, I broke free of X's hold and dashed into the bushes.

"Scarlett!"

"Pika pi!"

I ignored them shouting my names behind me and ran through the bushes. The cries in my head got louder and louder as I got closer to whatever it was.

I nearly fell down when I got to the edge of a clearing. I held my head in pain as I kneeled down in one of the bushes. In the clearing were a bunch of men with equipment and several Riolu in nets.

 _Help! Help! Someone save us! Get us out of here!_

Either I'm going crazy or did it sound like those Riolu are talking? Last time I checked, Riolu cannot talk or use telepathy. Maybe I'm going crazy than.

"Hmph! These Riolu will fetch us a lot of money!" a man with a bald head and beard boasted.

"Who knew all of these Riolu would just be living down here?" another man with sunglasses snickered. "This one will be one who will get us the most money." he kicked a Riolu different than the rest. Not only was it smaller, but instead of a Riolu's regular royal blue coat, this one had a golden yellow coat.

 _Ouch!_ I heard it cry out as it fell to the ground. _Grr... if I get out of here, you poachers are gonna pay!_ she, I figured it out from her 'voice', exclaimed.

"Shut up!" the man in the sunglasses kicked her again.

Poachers! I knew it! They are not getting away with this!

"Hey."

"Eep!" I gave a small shriek when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"What was that?" a man asked as I slid down into the bushes.

"Just one of those annoying Fearow. Focus on our catch." another ordered.

I sighed a breath of relief and turned to the person who nearly gave me away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I hissed at X.

"Me? You're the one who suddenly collapsed then ran off!" X countered.

"Keep your voice down!" I hushed him. "There are poachers out there and they will not hesitate to get rid of us!"

"Poachers?" he looked over his shoulder and bushes and into the clearing. "Okay, so what do we do?"

"Just follow my lead." I told him. Without telling him, I stood up from the bushes and walked into the clearing.

"Hmm?" the largest man in a leather jacket turned around. "What do we have here? A little girl lost in the mountains?"

"What are you doing?' I asked innocently.

"None of your business girly. Now, run along and forget you saw anything. Unless you want to have some fun." the leader grinned evilly. The rest of the poachers circled around me, wicked grins and their faces while most of them were cracking their knuckles.

"No thanks!" I said cheerfully. "I want to have some fun of my own!" my cheerful façade faded into a fierce glare. I dropped down and swept one of my legs around, knocking each and every one of them down.

"What the?!" the leader slowly got up with his lackeys following him.

"I told you I want to make my own fun." I smirked at them.

"Now you're gonna get it!" the leader charged at me.

I ducked his fist and grabbed his wrist. I pulled it back behind his back and then dug my knee into his back. He fell to the ground as the rest of the poachers got up.

"Come and get it." I taunted them.

As expected, they fell for it and they all charged at me at once. I dropped down and slid under them to the other side.

"I would watch where you're going." I said as they all tackled whoever was where I once was.

"Pika."

The poachers backed away from the circle as they saw a sparking Pika charging up.

"CHU!"

As they were getting shocked by Pika, I walked over to the nets holding the Riolu and cut all of them.

 _Thank you so much miss!_ the Riolu chanted as they ran off into the forest.

 _Watch out!_ the shiny Riolu shouted as a blue orb appeared in her paw.

"Huh?" I turned around to see the leader lunge at me with a knife in his hand. An Aura Sphere whizzed past my head before he could reach me and knocked the poacher to the other side of the clearing.

"Scarlett!" I looked up to see X finishing handcuffing the other poachers.

"Don't forget to handcuff this guy here." I kicked the leader.

"Are you insane?!" X exclaimed. "What, in the name of Arceus, will compel you to just jump in there?!"

"If I tell you, you would think I'm crazy." I relied as X handcuffed the leader. I turned back to the shiny Riolu who actually saved my life.

 _A-Are you okay?_ Riolu asked, clutching her arm.

I kneeled down to her so only she can hear me. "I'm fine, but you look a bit hurt there."

 _You can hear me?_ Riolu looked shocked.

"Yes I can. I don't know how, but I can." I pulled out a Potion. "Can I heal you? This will sting a bit, but it will feel better afterwards."

 _Okay. I trust you._ Riolu nodded. She uncovered her paw away from her arm to reveal a small cut.

I gently applied some of the Potion on. I saw that Riolu winced a bit. I whispered 'sorry' to it as I applied the rest of the Potion.

"Okay, Officer Jenny is going to pick up the poachers in about 15 minutes. We have to go before she gets here." X said as he walked towards me.

"Alright." I nodded as Pika climbed onto my shoulder. "Let's go."

 _No! I don't want you to leave!_ Riolu clung to my leg.

"Looks like your new friend doesn't want to be alone." X pointed out.

I kneeled down to Riolu. "Do you want to join me as my pokemon?" I asked her.

 _Yes! I can even show you why you can understand me._ Riolu said.

"Alright." I took out an empty pokeball and tapped Riolu's head with it. I watched as she transformed into red energy and got sucked into the ball. I felt the ball shake three times before dinging to indicate a successful catch.

After seeing that I caught Riolu, I let her out again.

"Is it okay if I give you a nickname?" I asked her. She gave me an eager nod. "How does the name Rio sound?" I said. Riolu gave a bark of approval.

"Now that you're done, can we get going now?" X said impatiently.

"Fine. Let's go." I walked after X with a new partner at my side.

* * *

 **Now, I was planning to celebrate the day I dread all year long as long as I'm single with a wonderful chapter of A Twist in Life where my lovely OC *spoiler alert* just got her heart broken by her crush, but I thought, why not celebrate it with a dysfunctional soon-to-be couple instead? And thus, I posted this!**

 **As stated in my author note above, I will put the characters' age and birthdays here in order form oldest to youngest:**

 **Calem Calme/ Xander 'X' Inochi- Age 16 (Apr. 22)**

 **Ashley Ketchum/ Scarlett Sacha- Age 16 (May 22)**

 **Leaf Green/ Blue Aoi- Age 16 (Jun 1)**

 **Amber Viridian/ Amarillo 'Yellow' de Bosque Verde- Age 15 (Mar 3)**

 **Hilda Touko/ White Shiroi- Age 15 (Mar 14)**

 **Hilbert Touya/ Black Kuro- Age 15 (Apr 14)**

 **Kristee Kotone/ Crystal Mizuiro- Age 15 (Apr 30)**

 **Ethan Hibiki/ Gold Kin- Age 14 (Jul 21)**

 **Argent Passant/ Silver Kamon- Age 14 (Dec 24)**

 **Rald Mitsuru/ Emerald Midori- Age 14 (May 31)**

 **Nate Kyohei/ Lack-Two Kuroguro- Age 13 (May 4)**

 **Rosa Mei/ Whi-Two Mashiro- Age 13 (May 4)**

 **Okay so the first chapter takes place about two days after June 1 (figure out the timeline on your own from there), Blue's birthday and so Gold's ad Silver's birthday haven't happened yet. Emerald's birthday has passed already since it's a day before Blue's birthday, so that is why he is 14. But he is still younger then Gold and Silver since their birthday haven't happened in the year yet.**

 **Some of the birthdays for the dexholders haven't been revealed yet, so I just made up my own. Since X has has the same name as Pokemon X, which features Xerneas, bringer of life, I decided to put his birthday as April 22, Earth Day. White's birthday is White Day since her name is White. Black's birthday is the unofficial Black Day to some cultures since his name is Black. Only Lack-Two's birthday has been revealed so I made his birthday both Lack-Two and Whi-Two's birthday since they are twins.**

 **If any of you don't really understand it, then that proves that I am not good at explaining things that i know. Just tell em what you don't understand and I'll try to explain it a bit clearer. Until then, review and enjoy the day where singles everywhere are going to be reading sappy love stories while listening to love and break-up songs. I know I am!**


	8. Seperation

**I'm back and I'm better then ever! Okay, not really, I just got over the cold I had. But I am back with a new chapter for this story. I can't really get any farther in A Twist in Life since I don't have any of those diary entries. If any of you out there, reading this, now the Brighton diary entries, please send them. Please. I am really needing them to continue the story.**

 **I've been rereading the reviews for this fic and I have been so moved by all of the support, I decided to start to reply to them starting with this chapter. Everyone who reviewed before the seventh chapter, sorry, but keep reviewing and I'll reply to you!**

 **TheCrazyClan: Thank you so much! You are literally the first one to answer either one of my questions! I was so discouraged, I cancelled the Avril Lavigne one (and I put so many obvious clues in that one!), but you were the first to answered the second no. And for the second one, no, but if you reread that part, you would find a clue that would help you figure out who it is. And here's another, he or she does have a connection to Ash somehow.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, only my own OCs, Ashley and Dan.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

 **Scarlett's POV**

 _SLAP!_

"I told you to keep away!" I screamed at X. "Not pull me into your embrace while I was sleeping!"

"Ow!" X rubbed the red handprint on his cheek. "I didn't even do anything!"

 _What's going on?_ Rio rubbed her eyes as she yawned.

"I don't care if you 'didn't do' anything. All I know was that your arm was around my waist when I woke up and it wasn't there last night!" I ranted.

 _Is she like this every morning?_ Rio asked Pika.

"Pi pika chu ka pi." Pika sighed.

I returned Rio and Char and packed up all of my things.

"Hey! Wait up!" I heard X shouted from behind me.

"I don't care what my dad says, I am not spending another night with you!" I shouted as I stormed through the forest.

After ten minutes, I couldn't hear anyone behind me.

"Do you think he lost track of us?" I asked Pika.

"Pika chu." she shrugged.

"You're such a big help." I said sarcastically.

A flash of light appeared from one of my pokeballs and Rio popped out.

Y _ou know, if you just waited for X instead of storming off into the forest, than you would still know where your partner is._ she said.

"Shut up." I told her. "And aren't you suppose to tell me why I can understand you?"

 _Easy. It's because of your aura._ Rio explained.

"My what?" I looked at her, confused.

 _Your aura._ she repeated.

"What is that?" I asked.

 _Aura is the life force that everything has._ Rio explained. _You are able to understand me because our auras are exactly the same._

"Anything else I should know?" I asked. I still don't have a big idea of what she was saying.

Rio opened her mouth to say something, but the black appendages on the sides of her head floated up.

 _Someone is coming._ she looked over to the bushes which were rustling a few seconds later.

From the bushes emerged a young teenage boy. His wild brown hair was sprinkled with twigs and leaves while his matching brown eyes scanned the area around him. His short sleeved red jacket was smudged with mud along with his yellow shirt. His red pants with black bands around the pant legs were ripped while his black shoes were caked with mud. The goggles perched on his head were clouded with dirt and they were almost falling off.

"Whoa. How did I get here?" the boy looked around until his eyes landed on me.

"How do you not know how you got here?" I asked him.

"I don't know. One minute, I was playing a card game with my friends. One flash of light later, I was crashing through a forest." he answered.

After his description, I know exactly who was behind this. And my close encounters with X. She is going to pay when I get my hands on that cat.

"Whatever happened, it looks like you need to clean up." I pointed out.

He looked down at his outfit then back up at me. "I guess you're right." he smiled sheepishly.

 _I sense that there's a river near here._ Rio tugged on my leg.

"There's a river near here. You can get clean there." I motioned him to follow me.

I walked after Rio who was leading us towards the river. On the way, I decided to find out who this mysterious boy was.

"You never told me your name." I said to him.

"I didn't?" he looked confused. "Guess I didn't. My name's Dan Kuso."

"I'm Scarlett Sacha." I said, sticking to my codename.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Scarlett." Dan said cheerfully.

We got to the side of a small river flowing down from the side of the mountain.

"You do have extra clothes to change in, right?" I asked Dan, not wanting to see him strip naked.

"Yeah. I do." he searched through the backpack on his back. "I was planning on staying over after the card game so I brought extra clothes."

"Good. I'll just go and leave you be." I turned around, ready to walk away.

"No, wait!" Dan stopped me. I turned around to see him with no shirt on.

I felt my face heat up from the sight of his bare chest. "Y-yeah? What do you need from me now? I-I already led you here." Oh Arceus, that sounded really mean. Why did he have o have his shirt off?

"I'm always used to someone around me. I don't like being alone, so can you hang out with me for a while? If you want, of course." Dan said.

"I-I don't have anywhere to be. I-I was just doing some training, but I guess w-we could do it here." I said, trying to avoid looking at him.

"Cool." he smiled as he waded near the river's edge.

I quickly turned around so I don't see him strip when I was right there. I walked towards a rock near the forest and sat on it, facing the forest. I grabbed Pika and Rio and held them both in my lap.

 _This is awkward._ Rio commented.

"You're telling me. A boy is bathing naked in a river with a girl right across from him." I mumbled. "If my dad found out, he would freak."

 _Speaking of which, who is your dad?_ Rio asked.

"He was the missing Kanto Champion. I searched Mt Silver several times for him, but never found him until a little over a week ago." I told her.

 _Strained relationship?_

"No, I had an accident when I was five, where I lost all of my memories prior to than and lived with my dad until I was ten when I left to go on my journey." I explained.

 _You're lucky that you got to know your dad a bit. I was exiled from my original pack because I was different when everyone else. My dad was the leader and my mom tried to stop him, but he just ignored her and kicked me out._ Rio explained sadly. _I was lucky enough to find a wandering pack of Riolu to welcome me in. But I was still alone most of the time because the other Riolu stayed away from me._

"You don't have to worry about that anymore." I hugged her. "We're your new pack now and we'll be together, no matter what."

"Pi pika pi chu!" Pika exclaimed.

 _Thank you._ Rio silently cried.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt several water drop land on my hair. That was when I suddenly remembered that a boy was naked in a river behind me.

Oh Arceus, please get me out of this mess.

"Okay, you can turn around now." Dan shouted.

Pika turned around towards the river and gave me a nod to confirm it. Trusting her, I turned around and saw Dan dressed in another set of clothes exactly like his first, minus the dirt.

I spotted his dirty clothes in a pile near the river. "Aren't you going to wash your clothes?" I asked him.

"I don't know how." he shrugged. "Whenever I travel, I do it with friends and they usually like to handle our laundry."

"Well, you should learn to do your own laundry in case no one else is around. Like now." I told him as he shook the water from his wet hair.

"But you're here." he pointed out.

"Who do I look like? Your mother?" I raised a brow.

"No way. You look nothing like her. At least you're not yoga crazy. Are you?" he sat down on a rock across from me.

"Yoga? Me? No. I would rather stay in shape by traveling." I answered.

"That explains a lot." Dan said.

I blushed at that comment. "Y-you said you were a trainer?" I tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, I am. But I like to play card games with my friends though." he answered. "Want to see my main pokemon?" he asked and I nodded.

He stood up and fished a pokeball off of his belt. He enlarged it and threw it into the air. The ball bursted open to reveal a Charizard.

"This guy here, is Drago." Dan patted the Charizard.

"What other pokemon do you have?" I asked him, impressed at his Charizard. It looked like it went through a lot for it to be a Charizard. I'm thinking that it would have a lot of power too.

"I mainly use Fire type pokemon so my party is entirely made up of them. I have a Delphox, an Emboar, a Typhlosion, an Infernape, and a Blaziken." he answered.

 _I notice that he mainly use Fire types with attack stats higher than any other. He also mostly uses Fire types whose secondary type is Fighting._ Rio commented.

"I noticed it too." I whispered to her when Dan was too occupied with Drago. "That means that he focuses more on power and attacking head on rather than coming up with a strategy. This could indicate that he's reckless in battle."

"What kind of pokemon do you have?" Dan asked. "I already saw your Pikachu and your shiny Riolu. What other pokemon do you have?"

"Me?" I looked at him. "I only have three other pokemon. A Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise."

"You have a Charizard too?" he asked, I nodded. "Than let's have a battle to see which one is stronger. I bet it's Drago though."

 _He's also cocky._ Rio commented.

"Scarlett!"

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, a voice echoed through the forest. Shit, X finally caught up with me.

"Maybe some other time. I have to go now." I said quickly before scooping up Pika and Rio and running into the forest.

I heard Dan shouting behind me, but his voice quickly faded away as I ran deeper into the forest.

 _Do you know where you're going?_ Rio asked as I ducked under a tree.

"Yep." I answered her as I saw our destination in front of us. I moved the curtain of vines away and stepped into a wide open cave.

The cave was empty as my footsteps echoed off the white rock walls. The floor of the cave was smooth and the dirt was patted down, like it was camped on several times. The only light source was coming from the numerous ice blue crystals dotting the cave.

 _Where are we?_ Rio asked.

"Rio, this used to be my camp site whenever I traveled around Mt Silver. I kept it hidden because it's the perfect camping spot as well as beautiful." I told her.

Pika hopped off my shoulder and over to a crack in the cave wall. From it, she pulled out a medium sized canvas bag with several things bulging out of it.

"Thank you." I accepted the bag from her and pulled out a few logs of wood and blankets and pillows made from woven leaves. I set them in the center of the cave and placed the bag back into the crack.

"Pika pi!" Pika hopped deeper into the cave. Rio and I followed her to a freshwater spring with several berry trees growing around the small lake pooling around it and a hole in the cave ceiling where sunlight filtered through.

 _Now I see why you want to keep this place hidden. It's one of the most amazing place I have ever been._ Rio commented as she took in the sights.

"I know. The spring, the berry trees, the crystals. I just love it whenever I come to Mt Silver." I sighed. "Especially the crystals. They're the reason why I was drawn here."

 _The aura stones?_ Rio looked at me.

"Aura what?" I asked her.

 _Aura stones. They're crystals in various shades of blue that increase the aura of the wearer._ she explained. _You must have been attracted here because of the aura these crystal were giving off. They're the same as mines and yours._

"So I guess it is. It's no wonder. I always felt some type of connection here." I said. I watched as Rio approached a large crystal and kicked it. Two small pieces shaped like a crescent moon and a star broke off. She picked them up and offered the moon to me.

I took it from her and examined it. I noticed a small loop in top of the crescent, like it was made to be worn. I took a silver chain from my jacket pocket and thread it through. When that was done, I placed it around my neck as a necklace.

Right after I placed it on. I felt a burst of energy coming from the crystal and a power deep inside me unlocked. Waves of aura came from my body and disturbed the trees and water.

"What was that?" I asked Rio who was taking a vine from one of the trees and tying it around her star shaped aura stone.

 _That was your aura being unlocked and boosted._ she said as she tied it around her neck. When she did, the same waves of aura came from her.

'"You've been talking a lot about this aura stuff. Is there suppose to be a bigger reason why you're telling me this?" I asked her.

 _Actually yes._ she answered as we walked back to our campsite. _Most people are not able to control their aura, but you can since you're able to communicate with me. If you want, I can show you how to use your's properly._

"Define 'properly'." I said.

 _You can talk to me using aura and can physically use it as attacks or shields. With a few extras sprinkled in there._ Rio said promptly.

"That sounds cool. I'm in." I nodded.

 _Great. Today, we should start with just tapping into your aura and drawing it out. Like this._ Rio created a small Aura Sphere in her paw.

"That reminds me, I thought Riolu can't learn Aura Sphere. Why can you do it?" I asked her.

 _I don't know. I can just do it. That makes me special though!_ she grinned.

"Yeah, it also makes you a target to steal. Be careful with that. You never know when someone wants you because you can use Aura Sphere early." I told her.

 _I get it._ Rio rolled her eyes. _Now, can we get back to me teaching you? The pokemon teaching the trainer? The little kid teaching the-_

"Just get on with it!"

* * *

 **Oh I am so cheesy. Sorry, but I couldn't help, but put in all of those references for Dan. And no, he is not the same character from Bakugan. He's just based a lot from it. I added elements from both fandoms in there. As my profile said, he is going to be connected to be the bad guy somehow.**

 **Starting this week, I am going to be swamped by tests, tests, and even more tests. First up, there's my finals for this semester and that is going to be mixed in with a messed up schedule. And the weeks after that, *shudder* standardized testing. I hated it last year and I still hate it now. Why did i have to be in the unfortunate generation where it had had to start for my school? The HSPAA was fine with me. I didn't need the PARCC and many other people would agree with me.**

 **And during all of that, I have stuff to do after school. Spring is supposed to be a season of beginnings, but I see it as a season of a bunch of testing. Oh well, just a few more years of schooling and I'll be ready to face the real world.**

 **So I'm going to end this with a few more words. First one who can tell me who's behind Scarlett's misfortune will get a shout out in the next chapter. I still have a poll up on my profile which I need to decide the ending of TPTI. I need those diary entries, so please send them to me. And as usual, please leave a review! It's not that hard, just click that review button and you're all set! Even words of encouragement are welcomed! I want to know that people love my stories!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	9. Secrets Revealed

**I'm back! And trying to update on my phone for the first time ever. Hey, there's a first time for everything, right? Anyways, let's get to the reviews.**

 **TheCrazyClan: Huh, I guess I made it obvious, didn't I? Oh well, I just can't leave it like that. Making obvious hints is just my weakness! And thank you so much! I have to say, Rio is one of my favorite characters to write.**

 **And once again, that was my only review, but don't be di** **scouraged, review and I'll reply!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter Nine

 **Amber's POV**

Although it's only been a few days since Ashley and Calem left, Red was acting a bit more on edge than usually. Who am I kidding? He never acted this way before. Having a teenage daughter on a trip alone with a teenage boy must be stressful.

"What if he does something to her? What if she comes home pregnant?" Red was pacing back and forth in the living room with everyone watching him.

"Red, sir. I think you're overthinking this. Ashley is more than capable of handling herself." I said.

"Yeah, just ask Ethan and that bruise Ashley gave him." Kristee pointed to Ethan.

"That was over a week ago. besides, I was caught off guard." Ethan defended himself.

"Nee-san, what are you doing?"Argent quietly asked Leaf while Red went upstairs.

"Nothing!" Leaf sang.

"Leaf, what are you hiding?"Hilda asked. "Whenever you sing, it means you're hiding something."

"I do not!" Leaf pouted. While she wasn't looking, Rald used one of his extendable arms to grab something from behind her back.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Hey! Give it back!" Leaf reached for it, but Rald used his other arm to keep her away.

"Is this a monitor?" Hilbert took a look at it.

"And it has a live feed of Calem on it." Rosa pointed out.

"Why do you have a live feed?" Nate asked.

"More importantly, why are are you spying on our friends?" I asked Leaf.

"No reason." Leaf answered. We all stared at her, not believing her. "Okay! Fine, I confess. I'm spying on them to get them together."

We all blinked at her.

"You want to get them together?" Kristee was the first one to speak.

"Don't tell me that you guys don't see it? It's pretty obvious that they like each other. Similar to two other people in here." Leaf casted a look in Ethan's and Kristee's direction.

"I don't get it." Hilbert said.

"Still hopeless as ever." Rosa and Nate sighed.

"Can you two keep your mouths shut?!" Hilda had her siblings in a headlock.

While they were wrestling, everyone else went upstairs to their rooms.

When I opened the yellow door to my room, Chuchu was waiting for me on my golden yellow bed. I walked across the dark yellow carpet as I trailed my hands over my paintings on my pale yellow walls.

I went over to my balcony to draw the light yellow curtains up to let some sunlight in. When I was done, I sat next to Chuchu on the bed and started to stroke her fur.

"Chaa...!" she cooed when I scratched her behind the ear.

"'Knock knock." I looked up to see Leaf in my doorway.

"Hi Leaf. What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I'm going out for a trip. Do you want to come with me?" she replied.

"A trip? Where?" I asked.

"Just a small trip to Kanto. I need to pick up some stuff there." she answered. "So, do you want to come?"

"Sure. Just let me get my stuff." I nodded. I went over to my desk and picked up my other pokeballs, my bag, and my straw hat.

"Can you get rid of that hat? You look like a boy when you have it on." Leaf complained as I stuffed my hair into the hat.

"I like it." I shrugged. She sighed and we both went downstairs.

We opened the doors to the outside and called out our pokemon. Leaf had her Ditty to transform into a Pidgeot and Kitty kept a firm hold around my waist. Soon, we were both flying in the air.

"Leaf!" I shouted over the winds. "Where are we going in Kanto?" I gripped my hat, afraid that it would blow away.

"Just a small town!" she shouted back.

"Lavender Town?" I asked.

"No way! That place is creepy!" Leaf wrinkled up her nose.

There were only a few small towns in Kanto. If we weren't going to Lavender Town, than we must be going to-.

"We're here!" Leaf announced as Ditty descended below the clouds.

Kitty copied, and a small town with dotted here and there with houses came into view. On top of a hill, a large building with a windmill overlooked the entire town.

Once we were on the ground, Ditty turned back into Leaf's hat and I recalled Kitty. "Leaf, why are we in Pallet Town?" I asked her.

"I told you, I need to pick some stuff up!" she answered as she led me around town.

"What kind of stuff? If this has anything to do with your kidnapping..." I looked at her.

"I'm over that already. This is for something else." Leaf responded. "Actually, more like for _someone_ else." she stopped in front of a house bigger than the others in town.

"You're trying to get Ashley's past!" I exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Leaf clamped a hand over my mouth. "And yes, I am."

"Why?" I asked as I pulled her hand away. "She said that she doesn't remember anything."

"I know, but don't you think it's weird? An accident, that I don't remember happening, took away her memory and then Red moved away with her? Even when I was little, I couldn't help, but gossip. And I never heard one word of this. There must be something this town is hiding." Leaf examined the windows.

"So you're going to break into town hall and steal her files?" I watched her as she tried to find an open window.

"Yep. And you're going to be my lookout." Leaf grinned.

"What! Me?" I was horrified.  
"Yeah. It's easy. Just give me a signal that someone is coming. Maybe 'ketchup'." Leaf said as she found a window to go through. "Wish me luck!" she opened up the window and slipped through.

"But! Oh!" I let out a sigh of frustration to myself.

"Pi?" Chuchu looked at me from her perch on my shoulder.

"I'm fine. I just wish Leaf would tell me these things beforehand." I said to her.

I sat down in the grass next to the window Leaf went through and watched the town go by their daily lives. I guess I must've dozed off because Chuchu was shaking me awake.

"Pi! Pikachu!" she pointed to two figures growing closer.

"Huh? What? Oh!" I suddenly remembered what Leaf told me.

"Ketchup! Ketchup!" I hissed through the window.

I looked back at the figures to see them closer. A small figure from the one with black hair came running towards us.

I panicked. I grabbed Chuchu and ran around the building. I heard one of them shout, but I just kept on running until I ran into someone.

"Ouch!" I fell on my behind.

"Sorry. Are you okay?" I looked up to see a boy, who was definitely taller than me, with black hair offer his hand out to me.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine." I blushed as I reached out to touch his hand. He pulled me up and I fell against him. "Sorry!"

"It's fine." he said as I pulled myself off of him. I looked up to his brown eyes.

"Ash! Where are ya?" a male voice appeared behind me.

"I was just trying to catch Pikachu from running off!" Ash shouted to a boy behind him. This boy had auburn hair that was spiked up.

"Who's this?" the boy asked as he saw me.

"Gary, this is- actually, I don't know his name." Ash said sheepishly.

"So what is your name?" Gary asked me.

"Um," I didn't know what to say.

"Amber!" I was relieved to see Leaf pear next to me. " I was wondering where you were."

"So Amber's your name?" Ash asked. I gave a weak nod. "That's a weird name for someone like you."

What does he mean by that?

"And I'm Leaf! Amber's best friend!" Leaf exclaimed. "Amber, who are your new friends?"

"Oh! This is Ash and Gary." I said, pointing at them at their respected names.

"I thought I heard someone say 'ketchup' around here. Was that you?" Ash asked.

"I didn't say 'ketchup', I said 'catch up'!" I made up. "Yeah, I was telling Leaf to 'catch up' with me and my Pikachu, Chuchu!" I lied.

"Oh, cool. You have a Pikachu too?" Ash asked.

"Too?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, this is my partner, Pikachu." Ash said as a male Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "Maybe our Pikachu can hang out together sometimes."

"Y-yeah. That would be nice." I blushed at the thought of us together.

"Sorry to leave so soon, but we have to go!" Leaf dragged me away.

"Leaf! Where are we going now?" I asked her.

"Just needed to get you away from him. You were showing your crush on him." Leaf said as we stopped between some trees.

"W-what crush?" I looked away from her.

"That one the blush on your face is showing." Leaf pointed to my face. "Face it, you like that Ash boy!"

"Okay! Maybe I do." I said quietly.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you two get together sooner or later." she winked as she pulled out her little black notebook.

"Leaf!" I whined.

"Fine, it can wait till later." she tucked it away and pulled out several files. "Let's go over these files I found." she spread them over the ground.

I picked one up and looked at what was inside it. This one was about her birth certificate.

"It says that she was born Allison Satoko Ketchum on May 22, 16 years ago. Apparently, she had a twin born with her. A boy named Ashton Satoshi Ketchum. They were both born to Red Aka Ketchum and Delia Hanako Ketchum." I read out loud.

"A twin? Do you think Ashley knows about that"' Leaf asked.

"Pretty sure she doesn't if she lost all of her memories. But why didn't Red mention it to her?" I wondered.

"This is strange." Leaf said as she examined a file. "She said that her mom died, right?" she asked, I nodded. "But there's no death certificate for her. I think Ashley's mom is still alive because if she was dead, there would be a copy of her mom's death certificate in with her files."

"So Red lied to his daughter about her mother being dead?" I wondered. "This is so overwhelming."

"I know. Look!" Leaf placed a file in front of me. "There's an address for her mom! I think we can go there."

"And say what? I don't think she would act normally if she found out her daughter was kidnapped by her husband." I told her.

"We won't say anything about Ashley. We'll just ask her questions about her family and Red. If she ask us why, just say that it's for a report we're doing in school." Leaf told me.

"Okay than." I said as we gathered up the files and placed them in our bags.

We stepped out from the trees and towards the town.

"Pallet Town hasn't changed much ever since I was five so I know the streets well." Leaf explained as she led us pass the different houses. "The Ketchum residence should be right here!" we stopped in front of a red roofed house with a small garden behind it.

"This is where Ashley lived?" I looked it over, it was way different than the big mansion she's living in now.

"There's only one way to find out." Leaf rang the doorbell. A few seconds passed before the door opened to reveal a Mr Mime?

"Who's at the door, Mimey?" a woman with auburn hair spoke. She walked closer to the door. She was wearing a purple skirt that reached her knees and a pink short sleeved cardigan covered a yellow shirt.

"Mime! Mr Mime!" the Mr Mime said to her.

"Hello there. What can I do for you two?" the woman asked us with a smile.

"Are you Delia Ketchum?" Leaf asked.

"Yes, I am. Who are you two?" she asked.

"Mom, who's was that?" I was shocked **when** I saw Ash step beside Delia.

"Ash Ketchum! Excuse yourself next time! We have guests!" Delia scolded him.

"Sorry mom." he said. "Amber? Leaf? What are you guys doing here?" Ash asked us.

"You're her son?" I asked him.

"Yeah. My last name is Ketchum." Ash nodded.

Wait a minute, Ashley had a twin named Ashton. Does that mean? Oh no! I got a crush on the twin brother of one of my friends that she doesn't even know about! What are the chances?

"Ash, you know them?" Delia asked.

"Yeah." he nodded. "I met them outside town hall with Gary."

"Come in than! If you're friends with Ash then make yourself comfortable!" Delia pushed us inside.

"Thank you." Leaf said to her as we sat down on a couch. I think she's also in shock as I was.

"What can I do for you two?" Delia asked as she and Ash sat down on a couch across from us.

"If you don't mind, we would like to ask you some questions." I answered.

"I don't mind at all. Ask away." Delia replied.

"Alright then. You're married to Red, the missing Kanto champion, right?" Leaf asked.

I saw Delia stiffen up. "Actually, we're divorced. We split up about ten years ago when Ash was still a young child." Delia answered.

"What happened when you and Red split up?" leaf asked.

"We had a big fight after he was coming back from one of his trips. I was tired of him leaving for long periods of time. I thought that it was time that we parted ways." Delia explained.

"Is Ash your only child?" I asked.

"Yes. He was born 16 years ago on May 22." Delia answered. Her mouth was pressed into a firm line. "Can I ask why you're asking me about my family?"

"We're doing a research paper about the Kanto Champion for our school project. We managed to find an address in Pallet that Red once lived at before he disappeared." Leaf lied.

"I see." Delia said. "Is that all you need to know?"

"Yes, ma'am. I believe we have all the information we need." I answered. Leaf and I stood and bowed to her before walking outside.

"Wait up!" I turned back around to see Ash running after us.

"What does he want?" Leaf asked.

"Why are you so interested in my dad?" Ash asked us.

"We told you; we're doing a paper on him." I lied.

"But not many people would choose to do a paper on the Kanto Champion who has been missing for five years." Ash said.

"We're different." Leaf shrugged. "We don't do what usual people do."

He doesn't even know how true that comment was.

"If you want to learn about him, than give me a call. We could meet up sometimes and talk about stuff." Ash handed me a slip of paper.

"T-thanks." I felt my cheeks glow warmer.

"No problem. I'll see you later than! Bye guy!" I watched as he ran back to his house.

Did I just hear that right?

"He thought that you were a boy!" Leaf fell to the ground laughing.

"It's not funny!" I felt my cheek warm up.

"I told you that hat made you look like a boy! And now he thinks you are one!" Leaf stood up.

"I like my hat." I crossed my arms.

"Whatever. But, you did actually got a boy's number, even though he thought you're a boy. I'm impressed." Leaf said.

"S-shut up." I said quietly.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed of." she patted me on my back.

"C-can we get back to why both Red and Delia lied about Ashley?" I asked, my cheeks turning red from embarrassment.

"You're right." Leaf said as she dragged me back into the trees.

We took the files out again and scattered them on the ground.

"From the way she was talking, Delia looked like she knew something about Ashley and that 'accident'." I said.

"She was acting hostile from the way she was talking about Red. Maybe it was more than a fight." Leaf picked up a file.

"Do you think Ash knows anything?" I asked.

"No, he was acting like he knew nothing about having a long-lost twin sister." Leaf shook her head.

"So they know nothing about each other?" I looked at her.

"Seems like it. Unless they had contact with each other before Ashley lost her memories." Leaf said.

"But that must mean Ash must have lost his memories too if he doesn't know anything about Ashley." I pointed out.

"This simple accident is becoming more mysterious the more leads we find." Leaf commented.

"It's almost dark. We should head back before Red notices we're gone." I pointed out as I pointed to the orange sky.

"We have to figure this out without Red knowing." Leaf said as we gathered up the files. We placed them in our bags and got our pokemon to fly us home.

Red, what exactly are you hiding from not only your daughter, but to everyone?

* * *

 **And I just realized I wrote the first part of this story entirely with Ashley's POV, and to give you a peek of what's happening while the mission is going on, here you go!**

 **I'm going to end this with a song.**

 **~Rain, rain! Come and stay! So I can write fanfics all day!~**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	10. Reunion

***Gasp?!* Another chapter for this story so soon? Is this a miracle? Sorry, but no. I've decided to shift my focus from my Ranger story to this one because I have serious writer's block. That and a lack of information to continue it. I'll keep updating the story, but more slowly of course.**

 **I wish I could update more, but I haven't had any time to write. Things blocking my creative juices flow are school and this thing called life. Yeah. It sucks. But hey, I only have two weeks of school left. Yay! I am so ready for summer! But with that comes AP classes and tennis practice. Boo! Yet, I have a vacation coming up! Yay!**

 **This time I have two reviews! Yay! I am so happy!**

 **TheCrazyClan: Aww! Thanks! But I always feel like I am just giving away the answer to everyone. And hahaha! That comment really made my day! And I try to make her as annoying as possible. Hope you like her like that though!**

 **.18: First off, sorry about your name, but you know who you are. I can't type teh whole thing on here. I kinda wrote the first part of the entire story a long time ago, so there would be less details then my more recent ones. You might have to wait a while for them to come out, but don't worry. They will. The last chapter wasn't part of Yellow's arc since I decided to save that for later. And I mean a long time later. Sorry about that. Right now, it's just focusing on Ashley and getting this new life of her's settled. I'm leaving Ash's clothes open to the imagination of the readers since they each have their own favorite outfit of his and I want to satisfy everyone. But I can to simplify things. And no; he will always remain brown-eyed.**

 **Long Author's Note, I know, but here's the best part, the actual chapter! After the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I, AKCC, do not own, have not own, and will not own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter Ten

 **Scarlett's POV**

 _And release it!_

"Ha!"

 _Good job. I think you finally got the Aura Sphere down._

"Finally." I collapsed onto the cave floor. For the past two days, Rio has been training me in the ways of aura. So far, I'm able to communicate with aura, sense other auras, make aura shields, and attack using Aura Sphere even though I can only do it for a small amount of time for the latter two.

 _You're doing great for only two days of training._ Rio commented.

"Yeah, but I'm suppose to be out here to capture poachers." I told her.

 _Don't worry. Pika has been doing a good job doing it without you._ Rio assured me.

"But I feel like I'm not doing my part." I sat up and drew my knees up to my chest.

 _With your pokemon partner or your human partner?_ Rio asked.

"I get it! You can stop guilt tripping me now!" I exclaimed. Ever since I ran way from X, Rio has been bothering me for leaving him.

 _Than you shouldn't have left him in the first place._ Rio placed her paws on her hips.

"If I didn't leave him, than we wouldn't be where we are now with me learning how to use my aura and an aura stone necklace for both you and me." I retorted.

 _Touché._

I smirked to myself for winning an argument with her after two days of listening to her about how more knowledgeable she was in aura.

 _Speaking of which, where is Pika right now?_ Rio asked.

"She's resting by the lake." I pointed to the other side of the cave with the berry trees. "I told her that she could take a rest."

 _We need someone to do a nighttime patrol. Do you think you can do it?_

"Me? Of course. I can sense things better in the night with my aura now." I boasted as I stood up. I waved 'bye' to Rio as I slipped through the curtains of vines and into the night.

It has been raining for the last two days so it was a bit chilly. I looked up to the sky to see the full moon peeking through one of the few drifting clouds.

I made my way over the slightly muddy ground as I checked for anything unusual. I closed my eyes and focused on the aura of the living things around me.

"Nothing yet." I sighed as I opened up my eyes.

I walked around the forest some more as the temperature begin to drop. I crossed my arms across my body in a futile attempt to warm myself up.

"What the hell is going on?" I wondered as the moon was hidden behind some ominous looking clouds. This is definitely not normal.

"Hone..."

I whipped my head to left as I heard something moan. But nothing was there.

"Dou..."

I turned back to my right where I heard something else groan out loud. But there wasn't a soul in sight.

I decided to closed my eyes and see if I can find anything using my aura. I couldn't see anything around me.

"Slash..."

I gasped as I snapped open my eyes. That cry sounded like it was coming from right in front of me, but I didn't see a thing.

Suddenly, I felt something snaking up my legs. I looked down to see twin pink ribbons slowly crawling up my legs.

"Aaahhhh!" I screamed, shaking them off. I ran deep into the forest, trying to get those _things_ away from me.

When I stopped to catch my breath, I felt something on my shoulder. Scared, I turned to see a blue ribbon resting on my left shoulder. From behind my shoulder, I spotted a gleaming sword.

"Aaahhhh!" I screamed again. I ripped away from the blue ribbon and ran blindlessly into the darkness.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw something purple in front of me. I stared, horrified, at that pokemon in front of me. Its shield was held in front of it, as if expecting an attack, and its twin purple ribbon-like arms held it in place. The eye on its hilt didn't blink as its shield was brought back behind it in one fluid motion.

"Aegislash." the pokemon cried.

I would've fainted on the spot right there, if I wasn't so terrified. Instead, I screamed again and fell on my butt due to the lack of feeling I had in my legs.

Now that I'm facing the sky, I could see that a Honedge and a Doublade accompanied the Aegislash. The only three pokemon that I have a fear against, why me?

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I covered my face. I felt the ribbons curl up my arms until something stopped them. I felt something ripping them away and a voice shouting, but I couldn't make anything out.

I felt someone helping me sit up. I opened my eyes slowly to see X staring down at me.

"X?" I squeaked out.

"Ashley. Are you okay?" he had genuine worry across his face.

"But what about the H-Honedge and Doublade. The A-Aegislash?" a sudden sense of fear came over me.

"Shh. They're gone now. Don't worry." X pulled me into a hug. I was shocked as he began to stroke my hair softly. Than, I couldn't take it anymore. I broke out crying into his jacket.

We stayed like that for a while. After my eyes were dry of tears. I felt X slide an arm under my knees and the other stayed behind my back. He picked me bridal-style and carried me somewhere.

"Where are you camping?" X asked softly as he continued to carry me.

I closed my eyes and tapped into my aura powers. I willed myself to create an aura trail from where I went. It took a lot of strength, but I was able to create one. Rio taught me it this morning, so I'm not that used to it.

"Follow the trail." I whispered, concentrated on using my aura. I can tell that X was shocked, but he followed the visible aura trail in front of him.

As soon as the curtain of vines came into view, I let myself let go of the aura trail. "Go through the vines." I told him quietly, tired from using my aura an extended amount of time.

I kept my eyes closed, tired already from all the training I did, and slumped against X's body. I felt the vines brush across my face as X carried me into the cave.

 _Scarlett!_ I heard Rio exclaimed.

I had no energy as X set me down on one of the leaf beds in the cave. I felt myself slip into sleep as a soft touch landed on my forehead.

* * *

 **X's POV**

I watched as her breathing slowed down and become a steady beat. I brushed away some of her hair and her forehead and gave a soft kiss on it.

I sat back and pulled a blanket woven from several leaves over her body.

"Ri! Riolu!"

I just watched as she slept. She looked so peaceful.

"Ri! Ri! Ri!"

I brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face as she relaxed into a deeper state of sleep. she turned onto her side as she slept.

"Riolu! Ri! Lu!"

I wonder where her other pokemon are. If she's here than does that mean Pika is-?

"Ow!" I exclaimed as something hit my forehead. Hard.

The thing fell down and landed in my hand. When I looked at it closer, it was a pale blue stone cut into the shape of a ring. I rubbed my forehead and felt an impression the ring left.

I looked up to see Scarlett's shiny Riolu, (wasn't her name Rio or something?), glaring at me.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" I growled at her.

 _It's about time I got your attention! Now, can you wander your eyes away from my trainer's sleeping body and to me?_ she exclaimed, pissed off.

Wait a minute, did I just hear her right? Back up, did I just hear her?!

"This is not happening." I pointed at her.

 _Yes it is. You're hearing me talk, in a way._ Rio said.

"But how?" I asked.

 _Normal people like you can't hear pokemon like me talk without the use of an aura stone like the one in your hand. People like Scarlett, however can due to their heightened aura. They are able to hear pokemon like me just fine and are able to use their aura._ she explained.

"Okay." I said, unsure about this whole thing.

 _Wonder about that floating pale blue light that led you here? That was aura. And it was Scarlett who was doing that. And because of it, she drained most of her energy._ Rio said as she pointed to Scarlett. _Do you believe me now?_

"Yes I do." I said as I slipped the aura stone ring onto my middle finger on my right hand. 'So you're saying as long as I have this ring, I can understand you?"

 _Precisely. Unfortunately, you are only able to hear me since the aura stones here picked up on my aura._ Rio said. _Scarlett and I have the same aura so you are probably able to communicate to her through aura as well._

"How do these stones affect her than?"

 _Since she already has natural aura abilities, her aura powers will be empowered. During the last two days, I've been teaching her how to use her aura._ she explained. _I can teach you to communicate to her using our aura. Unfortunately, that is the limit of what you can do._

"Fine with me. But let's start in the morning when everyone is awake. I'm getting tired." I placed my backpack down on the ground and picked up another leaf pillow and blanket. I placed them both on the ground and fell asleep with Scarlett right next to me. I snaked an arm around her waist and vowed to never let her go again.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I blinked as the sunlight peeked through the curtains of vines. I opened my eyes to something blue in front of me. I looked at my hands which were clutching the blue fabric of whatever was in front of me.

"Mmph." I looked up to see the edge of a red cap blocking the eyes of whoever I was up against.

Blue jacket? Red cap?

Before I could slap him, the events of last night rushed into my head.

I remembered how vulnerable I was. I remembered how scared I was. I remembered how he was there to save me. I remembered how safe I felt when I was with him. I remembered how he carried me back to the cave. I remembered how I drifted off to sleep as he kissed me on my forehead.

Hold on, if he was able to kiss me on my forehead when I was at my most vulnerable moment, than what could he have done when I let my guard down when I was sleeping while he was awake?!

"Get off of me, you sick pervert!"

 _SLAP!_

BAM!

 _What? What's going on?_ Rio lazily opened up her eyes.

"What the hell was that for?!" X rubbed the red bump on his head and the red glowing handprint on his cheek.

"I don't care if you rescued me last night, but that gave you no right to sleep next to me and do who-knows-what!" I yelled at him.

"What are you-? I wouldn't even do that!" he yelled back.

 _Scarlett? I think there's something you need to know._

"Not now Rio!"

 _But Scarlett, I think you shouldn't be that hard on X._

"Yeah! Listen to her! She knows what she's talking about!"

"Do I look like I care about-?!"

Was it just me or did X actually understand what Rio was saying?

 _Huh. That made her shut up pretty fast._ Rio observed.

"Shut up!" I exclaimed at her. I turned to X "You! How did you understand her?!"

"She smacked me in my head with this ring." he lifted his hand up to reveal an aura stone ring on his middle finger.

"Rio," I growled softly.

 _I can explain why._

"Than do it." I turned to her.

 _You were passed out and I was trying to get his attention. He was too focused on you so I had to do something. I chipped that piece off and kicked it at him. Granted, I was aiming for his face, but it hit his forehead._ Rio explained.

"You are aiming for my face?!" X exclaimed.

 _It was either that or kicking you in the stomach._ Rio shrugged. _Anyways, he caught it and we started talking about aura and stuff like that. I kinda promised him that I'd teach him how to use the limited power he has with the ring._ she finished.

"Please don't tell me..." I groaned.

 _Yep, he's joining you on your training._ Rio nodded. _At least the less advanced stuff._

"Whatever. I'm going to get some breakfast for us. You stay here and help X. Pika, come on." I said as I stood up.

"Pika pi!" Pika jumped on my shoulder. With her on, I walked towards the spring and berry trees.

I grabbed a nearby basket and started to pick berries off the trees.

"Eating these have been kinda boring. What do you think, Pika?" I asked her as she scurried across one of the branches overhead.

"Pi pika chu ka pi chu." she said as she plucked a Pecha berry.

"Maybe something different." I muttered to myself as I examined a Cheri berry. "Maybe Char can help us out."

"Pika chu pi?" Pika asked as she hopped down on the ground from the branch.

"Come on, I think we have enough." I walked away from the berry trees and to another part of the cave.

In this part, there was a hole on top in the roof of the cave so smoke can rise through.

"Come on out, Char." I threw his pokeball out. In a flash of light, Char stood in front of me.

"Charizard." he said.

"Do you mind if we use your tail flame? We want to roast these berries." I held up the basket of berries in my hands. He nodded and wrapped his tail around him so his tail flame was in front of us.

"Pi pika chu!" Pika went out of the cave and came back with a metal grill rack to put over the fire.

"Good idea." I smiled at her as I picked it up. We found some sticks to support it and soon, a sweet aroma filled the cave.

"Pi chu ka!"

"Char!"

"It does smell great. We have a lot of berries so we might be smelling this for a while." I smiled.

* * *

 **X's POV**

"Okay, so how is this suppose to work?" I asked.

 _First things first, I think the easiest thing here is communication._ Rio said. _To speak using aura, just shut your mouth and concentrate on the words flowing through space and into the mind of the person you're speaking to._

"Fine." I closed my mouth. I stared at Rio and thought about the words 'Aura' over and over again.

This is so stupid. How the hell is this suppose to work?

 _I'm starting to think that Rio has no idea what's she's doing._

 _I do know what I'm doing._ Rio said.

 _I mean, the way she described it was idiotic. I wonder how Scarlett was able to train with her._

 _Okay, that was downright hurtful._ Rio said.

 _She probably had to suffer through this. I don't give a sh-_

 _Alright! I get it! You can stop doing it!_ she exclaimed.

"Huh? I was actually doing it?" I looked at her.

 _Yes. And can I add that what you said really hurt my feelings._ she grumbled.

"Whatever. What are we going to do next?" I asked her.

 _Since you pretty much got communication down. I think the only other thing you can do with your aura is to sense others._ Rio said. _Pretty simple. Just close your eyes and block out all other senses._

I closed my eyes and started to see something glowing.

 _Alright. You should see a pale light coming from in front of you. That would be me. Just focused in on it._

I blocked out the darkness and focused on the light in front. Gradually, the light got brighter and brighter. I started to see three other lights coming from deep in the cave.

 _If you were able to focus on my aura, than you should sense the other auras in the cave. Tell me what you see._

"I see an ice blue aura, a bright orange aura, and a pale green aura." I told her.

 _Okay. The ice blue aura is probably Scarlett while the pale green is Pika. Char must be out since the bright orange aura is there. You can open your eyes now._

I opened my eyes to see Rio looking at me.

 _Not bad for your first try. Sensing aura with your eyes close is the easiest way to do it. If you can sense more auras without focusing on one first, than we can move on to sensing them without closing your eyes._ Rio said.

"'How long did it take Scarlett?' I asked.

 _Her? We spent the first day on communication and sensing aura. She was able to master both of them and we got started on attacks and shields. We worked on that on the second day, but she's still working on how to make them more powerful. I taught her how to trace aura yesterday morning. That was what you saw when you carried her here._ Rio explained.

"Alright, I got breakfast for all of us." Scarlett announced as she walked in carrying a basket filled with something sweet smelling.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The pokemon and I got tired of eating just berries so I decided to roast them." she explained as she called out all of her pokemon.

I decided to do the same. I was surprised that there was enough room in here for all of our pokemon to sit and still have room to walk around.

We sat there, eating the berries that came from several trees near a lake in the cave. Yeah, I have to see that to believe it.

This was actually nice. Now, if only it was just Scarlett and I.

* * *

 **Aww! How cute is that? Yay for this super adorable Adoreshipping moment!**

 **And we finally see a great weakness in Ashley! But, come on, let's be honest, who wouldn't be afraid of them? They can steal your life force!**

 **X knows her secret! Okay, it wasn't much of a secret, but still. He's in on it. And let me tell you Rio is going to have a lot of fun bossing around two humans.**

 **I guess that it. Oh wait! Have all of you seen the new information on Sun and Moon? I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the red hat on the female player, but I am so happy they added more skin and hair color choices! And does Solgaleo look like a Steel/Psychic pokemon? Personally, it doesn't to me. But Lunala definitely matches its typing. I'm totally going to get Pokemon Moon.**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	11. Meetings

**Hello my readers! I am here and free for the summer! That's right, I'm free of the nine month long ankle weight!**

 **Well enough of that. I can just rant more later.**

 **This time, I don't have any reviews to respond to, but that's fine. The last chapter wasn't really one to be replied to anyways. But this chapter is one of my favorites. At least for the first part of the story anyways.**

 **As a note, I decided to change up the outfits of the main characters from the anime in this story, so just keep that in mind. I've described their outfits though.**

 **Hmm, I think that's all. Oh well. Off with the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, then well Hilda, Hilbert, Nate, Rosa, and Calem will actually appear in the anime then. I also don't own any references I may or may not make in this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

 **Leaf's POV**

"You find anything else?" I asked Amber.

"Nope." she shook her head. "Are you sure you got all of the files on her?"

"Of course I did! I grabbed every single one with her name on it." I felt offended. A master thief never leaves anything behind.

"We're not getting anywhere just sitting here. Maybe we should get someone else to help us." Amber suggested.

"Are you crazy? If we tell anyone else, than Red might notice." I glared at her.

"Leaf, we've been in your room for the last week. If he didn't notice yet, then he never will." Amber pointed out.

"Let's just review what we know so far before we ask anyone else." I suggested.

"Fine." Amber picked up the notepad next to her. "Born Allison Satoko Ketchum on May 22 16 years ago with a fraternal twin brother named Ashton Satoshi Ketchum to Delia Hanako Ketchum and Red Aka Ketchum."

"Lived in Pallet Town with her family until an undescribed accident when she was five." I read my notes aloud. "Said accident gave her amnesia and her father moved away with her."

"At the same time, Ash seems to forget about his sister and their mother refuses to mention anything about Ashley or Red." Amber read.

"And after that, nothing." I said. "Except for the fact that Red lied to his daughter about her family."

"Wonder why he would do that." Amber wondered out loud.

"Nee-san? Are you in there?" I heard Argent call from outside my room.

"Quick! Hide the files!" I rolled off my bed and grabbed the files on my bed. Amber got up from her spot at the table and cleared the table of any files. We hid them under my bed just as the door opened up to reveal Argent, Kristee, and Ethan standing there.

"What are you guys doing?" Kristee asked.

"I was having Amber help me organize my closet!" I lied.

"Oh! Yeah! I was! You know how Leaf can get with clothes." Amber played along. As she was talking, I spotted a file sticking out from my bed.

"So, what do you guys need? We have to get back to cleaning!" I walked over to Amber and slung an arm around her shoulder as I kicked the file back under.

"We're heading over to Olivine City to pick up some supplies from the cargo ships." Ethan answered.

"We also need to go to Slateport City to pick up some more food. Rald and Hilbert has been craving some Hoenn food ever since watching a TV cooking program." Kristee added.

"Don't forget Lumiose City. We need some new winter clothes." Argent finished.

"Wow. We have a lot of errands this week." I commented.

"We wouldn't have if someone wasn't in there room for the last week." Hilda appeared in the doorway with Rald, Rosa, Nate, and Hilbert. "You're just lucky Red haven't been here for the last five days and he's supposed to return in two days."

"Oh, I guess we were a bit guilty about it." Amber grew red.

"What were you guys even doing in here?" Rosa asked.

"We were just," I couldn't think of anything.

"What's this?" Nate picked up a piece of paper.

"Pallet Town City Hall?" Hilbert read aloud. "What were you guys doing there?"

Crap, they found out.

"There's more under her bed." Hilda reported, bringing all of Ashley's files with her.

"This one has Ashley's name on it." Ethan picked one up. "What are you two doing with these?"

"Fine, all of you should know. Just close the door, I don't want Red to find out through his cameras outside Ashley's room." I said. Argent nodded and quietly closed the door when everyone stepped in.

"Last week, we went to Pallet Town since Leaf wanted to learn more about Ashley." Amber explained.

"When we got there, I snuck into city hall to steal some files on Ashley. We met these two guys named Ash and Gary. They seemed familiar somehow, but I don't know why. Anyways, we looked over the files and were able to find out some stuff." I explained.

"We wrote some notes down." Amber added as we passed around our notepads.

"To sum it all up, Ashley was born with a twin brother, Ash, and her mother is still alive. But when we went to see her, she refused to talk about Red or even mention Ashley." I said.

"So all these years, Red has been lying to Ashley about her mother being dead and he didn't even tell her about her brother when she lost her memories in that accident." Amber finished.

"Whoa. That was some major information." Rald commented.

"I know. I didn't expect Red to hide something like that." Rosa nodded.

"Does Ash know about Ashley?" Kristee asked.

"We don't think so. When we talked to him, he showed no signs of even knowing." I shook my head.

"But why would her mom not talk about Ashley? I understand why she would hold a grudge against her husband, but her daughter?" Hilda asked.

"We still don't have an idea. We're trying to find out that and many more things." Amber said.

"Let's just leave this alone for a while." Argent suggested. "If Red find us snooping around, he'll know something's up."

"He's right. We still have errands to do today." Rosa nodded.

"Alright." I said as Amber and I put the files away. "What are they?"

"Supplies from Olivine City." Kristee stated.

"Food from Slateport." Rald added.

"And winter clothes from Lumiose City." Hilbert ended.

"I think it's only fair if we split up the work." Amber suggested. "Ethan, Kris, and Argent, you guys go get the supplies from Olivine City while Leaf, Rald, and I go to Slateport to buy some food."

"And that leaves Hilbert, Rosa, Nate, and me in Lumiose. Good thing too. I need some new things from there." Hilda said.

"I guess it's settled then." I nodded. "Let's head out."

* * *

 **Kristee's POV**

"Okay, let's see. We need to head to the S.S Anne to pick up the stuff we need." I checked my notepad.

"The S.S Anne? Isn't that a cruise ship? And didn't it sink like six years ago?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, it is a cruise ship, but it also carry cargo between Olivine and Vermillion. And they rebuilt it after the original one sank to the bottom of the ocean." Argent explained.

"This new one was renamed the S.S Aqua and it is supposed to handle anything that comes its way." I added.

"What about an iceberg?" Ethan asked.

"Yes." I sighed. "Even an iceberg. Why would you even ask that?"

"You'll never know." he shrugged.

"Let's just get to the ship and pick up the things we need." I said as we travelled through the busy streets.

"Aw, come on Super Serious Gal, live a little. This is Olivine City. We can go see that lighthouse then get the stuff." Ethan slung an arm around my shoulders.

"Unlike you, Ethan, I do not sit around all day and do nothing. I would prefer to get the things I need done early than have some time to myself." I elbowed him in his stomach, letting his arm fall off my shoulder.

"Agh. Gotcha." he groaned.

Argent and I left him in the middle of the street clutching his stomach as we made our way to the pier.

We walked up the pier where the S.S Aqua was docked. A bunch of muscular sailors were unloading boxes of cargo from below deck.

"Excuse me sir?" I asked one of the sailors.

"Yes?" he looked up from his clipboard.

"We're here to pick up some shipments under the name 'Crimson'." I told him.

"Let's see. 'Crimson', 'Crimson', ah, here we are, 'Crimson'." he said as he flipped through the papers on the clipboard. "Can you wait here? We need to bring the stuff up."

"Sure." I nodded. "We can wait."

"Alright, but it might take about half an hour. There are a ton of stuff under that name." the sailor said before walking off.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen a teenage boy around here?" a tap on my shoulder turned me around. A boy that looked about 16 with spiky auburn hair was standing there. He had on a green collared unbutton shirt over a black t-shirt and blue jeans over his black and green sneakers. A pendant of a leaf curling around a raindrop was around his neck. "He's about as high as me, black hair, has a Pikachu on his shoulder." he described.

"No, we haven't." Argent replied.

"Do you want some help finding him?" I asked.

"Kris." Argent glared at me.

"We need some way to pass the time while we wait. We might as well help him." I whispered to Argent.

"I'll sure like some. My name's Gary by the way." the boy nodded.

"I'm Kristee and this is Argent." I introduced us. "So, where should we start looking?"

* * *

 **Hilda's POV**

"Can't you believe it? We're actually in Lumiose!" I exclaimed.

"Prez, you might to calm down." Hilbert suggested.

"Yeah, you're a bit too hyper about this." Nate chimed in.

"Is it just me or are her eyes sparkling?" Rosa asked.

"Shut up you two!" I yelled at my siblings.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Hilbert sweatdropped.

"Instead of blasting our eardrums." Nate rubbed his ear.

"Let's see." Rosa pulled out a list. "We need to get some new scarves for Ashley, Amber, and Kris, new boots for you and I, new jackets for the boys, and according to Leaf, 'everything they have in season' for her."

"Good thing Red gave us his credit card." I held up the golden red piece of plastic.

"Is there a limit on that thing?" Hilbert asked.

"Dude, he bought a mansion, filled it with everything imaginable, and still had money leftover after ten years." Nate pointed out.

"So it's a 'no'?" Hilbert asked.

"Where should we go for that stuff?" I asked Rosa.

"We should find everything we need at the Lumiose Bouquet." she answered.

"And where is that exactly? This city is huge." Hilbert said.

"I don't know." Rosa replied.

Everyone except for Rosa fell anime-style.

"Okay, we can't go running around the city all day searching for one store. I still have some things to buy myself. We should split up." I suggested. "Rosa and Nate, you two go look for the store while Hilbert and I go buy the things I need."

"You're just looking for an excuse to spend time with him." Nate said bluntly.

"Shut up!" I yelled at him as I felt my face heat up.

"Come on, Prez. If you want all the things you need, then let's go!" Hilbert linked arms with me and dragged me along with him.

"Hilbert! Slow down! You don't even know where we need to go!" I yelled as we raced through the streets.

"Right! Sorry!" he stopped abruptly.

We jerked to a stop that made my head spin. I nearly did a faceplant on the streets, but Hilbert caught me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me as I was cradled in his arms.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine." I felt a blush crawling up my face.

"Good! Than lead us where to go!" Hilbert said as he let go of me.

"Oh, okay." I said disappointed.

I looked around at where we are. I noticed a sign that said Autumnal Avenue.

"Okay, we're on a street connected to North Boulevard, so we just need to get on North Boulevard and walk on until we reach South Boulevard. That's where the PR Studio is which is where I need to get my stuff." I thought out loud.

"Sounds good to me! Which way do we go?" Hilbert asked.

"Considering how Prism Tower is in front of us, we go back." I pointed out.

"Oh yeah. I didn't notice that." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to walk off of Autumnal Avenue.

"Hey, wait up, Prez!" Hilbert yelled behind me.

"Hilbert, can you not call me that! Like I said, you don't work for me anymore!" I turned back around and face him.

"Sorry." he shrank back a bit under me. Now I feel bad for yelling at him.

"Listen, Hilbert. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just-"

"Nya!"

"Watch out!"

"Skitty!"

"Ah!" I screamed as something pink attacked my ponytail.

"Prez!" Hilbert yelled.

"Get it off, get it off, get it off!" I screamed as I ran around in circle with whatever it was still attached to my hair.

"Skitty!" a brunette girl in a blue bandana tied like a headband ran up to us with a bluenette girl with a white beanie next to her. The brunette had black shorts under a blue skirt with a white pokeball pattern on it. With it, she had a matching blue short sleeve shirt with a black tank top under it. Around her waist was a white fanny bag and her pokeballs clipped to the belt on it.

"May! Do something! Your Skitty is attacking that girl!" the bluenette yelled. She was wearing a black top under a pink sleeveless vest with a collar. She had on a white skirt that reached just above her knees with white socks right below her knees and pink boots that went below her socks.

"Ah! Right!" the brunette, May, said as she brought out a pokeball. "Skitty! Return!" a red beam shot out and absorbed the Skitty back into it.

"Phew." I sighed as I stopped running.

"Are you okay?" Hilbert asked.

"I'm fine. Does my hair look okay?" I asked him.

"Um," he looked away, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Hilbert," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You should feel for yourself." he said quickly. Feel?

I reached towards the back of my head and felt my ponytail. The only thing I felt was something big, messy, tangled, and soft.

"Dawn, it seems like we have a hair emergency." May said to the bluenette.

"I think that might be worse than my hair ever was." Dawn commented.

"You might want to get Piplup than." May said.

"I wonder if his Hydro Pump can help." Dawn pondered.

WHAT?!

* * *

 **Rald's POV**

"So what does everyone want again?" Leaf asked.

"Hilda, Rosa, and Nate said they wanted something 'new and out there' while Kris and Argent said that they're fine with anything." Amber replied.

"Don't forget some authentic Hoenn cuisine for Hilbert and me. I've been craving it for some reason." I added.

"What do you want, Amber?" Leaf asked.

"I don't know." she shrugged. "Anything, but meat. I'm still a vegetarian. I think Ashley is too. I've never seen her eat meat before."

"Amber, I don't know how you can not eat meat. You need the protein." Leaf gestured to Amber's thin figure.

"I'm not sure it's because of that." I commented. "I think it's the family genes we have."

"Just because you both have blond hair and short stature does not mean genes are the cause of it. Just look at Ethan. He looks nothing like you two." Leaf pointed out.

"He's always been the odd one of the family." I shrugged.

"Watch out!"

"Huh?" Amber turned around to see a blur of orange and yellow crash into her. "Ahhh!"

"Amber!" Leaf and I exclaimed.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" the boy who crashed into Amber shouted.

"Her?! You're the one who crashed into her! You should watch where you're going!" Leaf shouted back at him.

"Yeah! We were standing here, minding our own business when you decided to ram into my cousin!" I yelled at him.

"Than don't stand in the middle of the road! People are trying to walk here!" the boy yelled.

"Go around us than! There's plenty of room!" Leaf screamed.

"Guys!" Amber pushed us back. "Knock it off!"

"Hey, Barry! What are you doing?" a boy with a white hat that looks like hair walked up to us.

"Are you picking fights again?" a boy with a red scarf and a red beret-like hat walked next to him.

"I'm not the one picking the fights. They are!" the blond boy with a green scarf who ran into Amber exclaimed.

"You gotta be kidding me." Leaf growled. "Why I outta-!"

"Leaf, put Blasty away." Amber told her. "And tell Ditty to turn back into a hat and not into a cannon."

"Fine." Leaf pouted. She clipped the pokeball back onto her belt and Ditty, who I didn't notice leaving, crawled from behind her as a cannon and turned back into Leaf's hat on her head.

"Please excuse my friends. They are rather overprotective sometimes." Amber explained.

"It's fine. This guy can be a bit of a hothead sometimes." the boy in the red hat slung his arm around the blond's shoulder.

"I am not!" the blond shouted.

"And he doesn't have any manners either. I'm Brendan." the boy in the white hat said.

"And I'm Lucas. The blond's Barry." the red hat boy said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Amber and this is Rald and Leaf." Amber introduced us.

"So, what bring you guys to Hoenn? You don't look like you're around here, except for Rald." Brendan pointed out.

"How do you even know that I'm around here?" I asked.

"Easy. You have that Hoenn tan." Brendan explained.

"Tan? I don't see a tan on him. He looks as pale as Amber." Leaf pointed out.

"To me he does." Brendan shrugged.

"Back to the question." Lucas interrupted.

"Right. We're here to buy some food for our friends." Leaf answered.

"Mind if we join you guys? We're also a bit hungry." Lucas asked.

"Why not? As long he doesn't blow up again." I jerked one of my sleeves at Barry.

"Look you're one to talk, croissant head!" Barry shouted.

"At least I'm not a herd of rampaging Rhyhorn!" I shouted back. I hated being called a croissant head. Or crescent head.

"Rald!" Amber scolded me.

I grumbled and backed off.

"Anywho, what about we go and buy that food?" Leaf diffused the situation.

"Do you know any good places to buy?" Amber asked.

"Why not the market? They always have some fresh produce there." Brendan suggested.

"That sounds perfect. Let's go than." Amber smiled.

Brendan, Lucas, and Barry led the way while Amber, Leaf, and I trailed behind them.

"Amber, how do you know if we can trust them?" I whispered to her.

"Rald, stop being so paranoid. They seem trustworthy enough." Leaf whispered.

"Chuchu isn't acting hostile to them so they must have truly good intentions." Amber pointed out.

"Pika." Chuchu nodded.

"And if they do have a bad side, I'll just have Ditty blast them into the sky." Leaf said with a wicked grin on her face.

"Dit. Ditto." Ditty transformed back into his pink blob form for a while.

The busy crowds of Slateport dissolved into stalls as we entered the Slateport Market.

"Oh, so it's an open-air market." Amber was awed.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Lucas asked.

"We travelled a lot and one of the places we went to was Driftveil. They had a market indoors there." I explained.

"That might the high tech Unova way of doing things, but here in Hoenn, we like to embrace nature." Brendan explained.

"But in Sinnoh, we have nothing like that." Barry said.

"That's not true." Lucas countered. "We have-... Now's there's-... Wait, there's actually-... Yeah, you're right. Sinnoh has nothing."

"The closest thing is that weird market in Sunyshore. But they only sell Seals and Ribbons. There's nothing fresh in Sinnoh." Barry crossed his arms.

"Is it okay if we split up? Our friends have different tastes in food." Leaf asked.

"Why not stay together? We don't anything certain to buy. We're just here to see what's around." Brendan suggested.

Leaf, Amber, and I shared a glance.

"Sure. We'll have more fun that way." Amber answered.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"I told you, Chuchu isn't shocking them so they must be good."' she whispered to me.

"Fine." I grumbled.

"Listen Rald, since you are aching for Hoenn food, why not let Brendan show you some?" Leaf suggested.

"Aren't you supposed to be from Hoenn though?" Brendan asked.

"I am, but I haven't been here for a while." I answered.

"If you want Hoenn food, than let's go." Brendan grabbed one of my expandable arms and dragged me.

"Wah!"

* * *

 **Amber's POV**

I watched as my younger cousin got dragged away by a running Brendan.

"Bye Rald! Have fun!" Leaf waved.

"Should we get going than?" Lucas sweatdropped.

"Um, yeah. Let's go." I nodded.

"So, what do you girls want to eat?" Barry asked.

"I'm a vegetarian so no meat for me." I answered.

"Unlike my friend here, I'll eat anything. But I prefer something with low calories." Leaf answered.

"High maintenance much?" I heard Barry whisper to Lucas.

"They do realize we can hear them, right?" Leaf whispered to me with a scowl on her face.

"Leaf, be nice." I told her.

"At least they're not like you or Ash. You guys will eat anything and everything." Lucas whispered to Barry.

"They know Ash?" I whispered to Leaf.

"Seems like it." Leaf nodded. "Let's see if they know anything else about him."

"Leaf, wait!" I warned her, but it was too late.

"So! Do you guys have any other friends? We only met Brendan, but I'm sure two guys like you would have a lot of friends. From a lot of places!" Leaf exclaimed. Way to be subtle.

"Um, sure we do. But we have a lot of them and we all know each other, so it might be a while to list them." Lucas said.

"Oh, take all the time you need. We have a lot to buy anyways." Leaf said as we approached a fruit stall.

"Let's see, in Kalos, there's only Serena. In Unova, there's like no one there. In Hoenn, there's only Brendan and a girl named May." Lucas listed them off his fingers.

"In Sinnoh, there's just Dawn. In Johto, there's no one. In Kanto, there's our friends, Gary and Ash." Barry finished.

"Wait, do you mean Gary Oak? Grandson of the famous Professor Oak?" Leaf asked innocently.

"Yes. He's the same one." Lucas answered.

"And what about that Ash person? What's his last name?" Leaf asked.

"Subtle." I whispered to her as we paid for our fresh fruits and berries.

"Ketchum. Surprised you haven't heard of him. He's the son of the missing Kanto Champion, Red." Barry explained.

"Where are you two from, again?" Lucas asked.

"We're from Kanto." I answered.

"Than shouldn't you know who Red is?" Barry asked. "He is the strongest trainer ever."

"You see," I started, but Leaf cut me off.

"As Rald said, we travel a lot. So much, we never catch up on the latest news. Especially one that has been forgotten and is dubbed a legend." Leaf said quickly.

"Again, so subtle." I whispered to her.

"Oh, okay." Lucas and Barry shrugged it off.

We continued to shop around, and soon, we got everything we need.

"Where's Rald?" I asked as we stood outside the Pokemon Center. Leaf and I were carrying our groceries in our arms. "You did say that Brendan will bring him back here soon, right?"

"We called him and told him to meet us here a while ago." Lucas answered.

"I think I see them over there." Lef pointed to the docks.

"Oh yeah. That is them. But why are they growing bigger so fast?" Barry asked. I looked over to see a tiny speck grow into two figures.

"Watch out!" Leaf pulled me to the side just before Brendan and Rald crashed into Lucas and Barry.

"Oh my Arceus. Are you okay?" I asked as I looked at the heap that was Brendan, Rald, Lucas, and Barry.

"I'm fine." Rald answered as he sat up. "I think I broke my arm though." he lifted up one of his expendable arms under his sleeve.

"We'll fix that later. We already have everything we need. Do you have the food?" Leaf asked.

"I got it." Rald lifted up several take out boxes in a bag with his unbroken arm. "It took forever though. We had to wait for it to get cooked."

"No matter." I shook my head. "Let's just go. The others must be waiting for us."

"Okay." Rald stood up. "Whoa." he said as he wobbled.

"Is one of your shoes broken?" I asked as I supported him.

"I think so." he answered.

"Let's just go already." Leaf said as Ditty transformed into a Flygon.

"Okay." I nodded as I let out Kitty and Rald let out his Mantine.

"Hope we can meet again. Bye!" Leaf exclaimed to the three boys as we flew into the air.

"Do you really think we'll meet again?" I asked her as we soared in the sky.

"Maybe." Leaf shrugged. "I don't know why, but I had a feeling that I met Gary and Ash before. If that can happen, then why can't we meet those three boys again?"

Maybe she's right. What things can happen?

* * *

 **Ethan's POV**

"Aw damn it. They left me behind!" I yelled. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Watch out!"

"Huh?" I looked up to see something yellow tackle into my head. "Ow!"

"Pikachu!" I blinked the spots away to see a Pikachu sitting on my chest.

"Pika?" it looked confused.

"Pikachu!" a boy around my age with black spiky hair and a red and white cap ran up to us..

"What the hell, man?! Keep an eye on your pokemon!" I yelled at him when I stood up.

"Sorry. He can get too excited sometimes." the boy rubbed his head sheepishly as his Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. "He got crazy when he saw something red. He thought it was ketchup."

"Ketchup? You got one weird pokemon." I looked at him. He looked kind of familiar.

"Sorry." he said. "My name's Ash. Ash Ketchum." he stuck out his hand. He had on a red sleeveless jacket on with two white stripes going down the middle. Under the jacket was a short sleeve black shirt. His light blue jeans covered the tops of his red and black sneakers.

"Call me Ethan." I shook his hand.

Ash, is he the same one Leaf and Amber was talking about? Ashley's long-lost twin brother. Hold up, now I remember, I battled this guy once! Yeah, a few years ago, when I had a different team on me. Back when I had a Donphan. I wonder how's he's doing? Maybe I should visit Grandpa and Grandma to see how's he doing.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked. I snapped out of my daze. "You seem out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that." I answered.

"Are you looking for someone? You looked like it." Ash asked.

"Actually, yeah, I am. My friends left me behind." I answered.

"Guess we're two of a kind. I also lost my friend somewhere in the crowd." Ash said.

"Want to look for them together?" I offered.

"Why not? Maybe our friends found each other and are now looking for us." he shrugged.

"Maybe." I said as we wandered through the crowds.

I forgot how crowded Olivine could be. I almost lost my billiard cue somewhere, but I was able to grab it before it got carried off to the ship yard. We made our way to the docks where the S.S Aqua was docked.

"My friends should be somewhere around here. We had to get something from the S.S Aqua."I said as I looked around. Aibo was out and was helping me look for Super Serious Gal and Argent.

"Ai ai! Ambipom!" Aibo pulled on my pant leg as he pointed towards the ship. I looked over in that direction and saw the familiar heads of red hair and two blue bouncing pigtails.

"Great job Aibo. Return!" I recalled Aibo back into his pokeball and ran towards Argent and SSG.

"Ethan! Where are you going?" I heard Ash yell behind me.

"SSG! Umph!" I groaned as a foot connected with my stomach.

"I told you never to call me that again!" Kris shouted as she stood over me.

"If it wasn't for his loud mouth, we wouldn't have found him." Argent shrugged.

"Hey Ethan, are you okay?" Ash ran up behind me.

"I'm fine. I'm used to it." I said as I stood up, holding my aching stomach.

"Argent, Kristee, why did you guys- Ash?" a boy with spiky auburn hair appeared behind Argent and Kris.

"Gary! I found you!" Ash exclaimed.

"You found me? You're the one who ran off. Not me" the boy, Gary, pointed out.

"Tomato, tamato, the only thing that matters is that we're together. Now, I won't have to stay here and look for you." Ash said.

"Do you guys have the supplies yet?"I asked Argent and Kris.

"The sailors are unloading it right now." Argent pointed behind him to the ship.

"Is that the same Ash Leaf and Amber told us about?" Kris whispered to me.

"I think so. I also think that I met him before, a long time ago. It was only for one battle, but I still recognize him." I whispered back. "How do you guys not know that you're looking for him with Gary Oak?"

"That guy only described his friend. He never said his name." Argent pointed out.

"Now that we know that, do you think we should ask him about Ashley?" Kris asked.

"No. As Nee-san said, he probably doesn't know anything about her. It's best if we mention nothing about her." Argent whispered.

"We should get some kind of information out of them. This might be our only chance." I whispered to them.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Ash asked.

"Nothing!" we all said quickly.

"Since we have ten minutes before our supplies will be ready, why not know each other some more?" Kris suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." I nodded. "You guys go first." I pointed to Gary and Ash.

"Okay then." they nodded.

"My name's Ash Ketchum and this is my best friend, Gary Oak." Ash introduced themselves.

"Ash Ketchum, as in the son of the missing Kanto Champion?" Kris asked.

"That's me." Ash nodded.

"And Gary Oak, grandson of Professor Oak?" I asked.

"There's no one else." Gary shrugged.

"You guys have any siblings?" I asked, only to get punched by Argent when they weren't looking.

"For me, no." Ash shook his head. "But Gary has an older sister named Daisy."

"Anything else about your family?" I asked, only to get kicked lightly by Kris.

"No. Nothing I can think of." Ash shook his head.

"Alright little miss, we got your supplies." a sailor walked down from the S.S Aqua with several boxes getting carried down from behind him.

"Thank you sir." she bowed down as she called out her Xatee.

"Xatu." she stated as she appeared.

"Sorry to leave so soon, but we got to get back to the rest of our friends. I said as I called out Togebo. Argent nodded as he called out his Honchkrow.

"Hope we see each other again!" Kris called out as Xatee grabbed onto her shoulders and lifted the boxes up with her Psychic.

"See ya!" I yelled as I hopped on Togebo and Argent's Honchkrow grabbed onto his shoulders.

We took off into the sky with Xatee making the boxes float in the air behind us.

"Ethan, you are so stupid." Argent yelled over the wind.

"What? All I wanted to know was about his family." I shrugged.

"You could've been a bit more subtle though." Kris suggested.

"Eh, whatever." I shrugged as we flew back to the Sevii Islands.

* * *

 **Nate's POV**

"Do you think Hilda will be alright?" Rosa asked me as we watched our sister get dragged off by Hilbert.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe this will give her a chance for her to admit her feelings to Hilbert." I turned to her.

"You're right. And if she doesn't, than we'll make her." Rosa laughed.

"I always knew it was a good thing to have you for my twin." I sighed.

"Let's just get back to business. We need to find that store." Rosa looked at the list. "But we don't have any money and Hilda has the credit card."

"I think she dropped it." I bent down to pick up the gold card on the sidewalk.

"Oh, then we're all set. Let's go." Rosa walked into a random direction.

I followed her and soon, it felt like we were walking around in circles. I think we were.

"Rosa, we walked pass that stall like three times already." I pointed to the galette stand. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Nope! I have no idea!" she rubbed her head sheepishly. I sighed at her innocent stupidity.

"Let's just ask someone for help." I suggested.

"Fine." Rosa nodded. We looked around until we stopped a girl walking pass us.

"Excuse me, miss." I tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?" she turned around. She was a honey blonde in a bob and was wearing a red long sleeve collared shirt under a grey vest with a black stripe going down either side on the front with a matching red pleated skirt. She had grey over the knee socks on with black lace up boots. On her head was a red fedora and a black metal star pin that matched her black strappy purse. Even her grey eyes matched her outfit. Or maybe they were contacts.

"Yes, my sister and I are looking for the Lumiose Bouquet, but we're lost." I explained.

"Oh, I can help you find it. Just follow me." she said. "My name's Serena. What's yours?"

"My name is Nate while my sister is Rosa." I introduced us.

"Nice to meet you." Rosa waved.

"Nice to meet you too. I'll lead you to the bouquet." Serena said as she led the way.

We walked through the streets of Lumiose and soon, we were standing in front of a very expensive looking store.

"This is the bouquet." Serena explained as we walked in.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask you two to leave. You're not fashionable enough." an attendant glared at Rosa and I.

"They're with me." Serena said.

"Alright." the attendant said before walking off. I could still feel her glaring at us though.

"Sorry about that." Serena apologized. "Style is everything in Lumiose." she explained.

"It's fine." Rosa waved it off. "We only need to buy a few things here and than we can get out."

"Okay. I have a few things to buy too, so I'll wait for you guys to finish." Serena smiled.

"Okay. Come on, Rosa." I grabbed my sister's hand and pulled her over to the racks.

We grabbed everything we need, and everything they had for Leaf, and went over to the register. The person there looked at us suspiciously with our heap of clothes, but said nothing when we showed her our gold credit card. The people here will do anything for more money.

"Are you done?" Serena asked as we met her near the entrance.

"Yep." Rosa nodded. We each had our arms and hands full of bags.

"You guys brought a lot." Serena exclaimed.

"We're stocking up for winter for us and our friends." I explained.

"Oh, that makes sense." she waved it off.

We walked out of the store and decided to take a break at a small café.

"Did you call Hilda?" Rosa whispered to me as we waited for our food. We already ordered and got our drinks.

"I did, but Hilbert picked up." I said as I took a sip from my cup of jus d'orange. "He said that they might a bit late meeting up with us."

"My friends are meeting me here. Is that okay?" Serena asked.

"That's fine. Our sister and friend are also meeting us here." Rosa explained as she held her bowl of chocolat chaud.

"We can all meet each other then, It'll be fine." Serena smiled.

"Yeah, it would be." I said as I took another sip.

We sat there chatting to each other before Serena spotted her friends.

"Oh! There they are! May! Dawn! Over here!" she waved.

We looked around and saw Hilbert and Hilda walking with Serena's friends.

"Hilda, why are you wet?" Rosa asked as they got closer.

"I don't want to talk about it." Hilda said as she sat down.

"Don't say anything else about it." Hilbert added as he sat down with several bags.

"Sorry, I think Piplup might have overdone it." the bluenette, Dawn, rubbed her head sheepishly.

"That's a reason why I'm not trusting you with my hair." Serena said.

"Or my hair." the brunette, May, added.

While Hilda, Hilbert, May, and Dawn ordered, Rosa and I talked to Serena.

"Do you travel much?" Rosa asked her.

"Actually, I don't travel much now, but I did when I was younger. I used to travel with this guy. Both May and Dawn actually travelled with him as well." Serena answered.

"What's his name?"I asked.

"Ash Ketchum." they all answered.

Hilbert choked while taking a sip of his eau minerale.

"The son of the missing Kanto Champion?" I asked as Hilda helped Hilbert not die.

"The same one." Dawn nodded.

"How long have you travelled with him?" Hilda asked when she made sure Hilbert was going to be okay.

"We each travelled with him for about a year. Maybe a bit less. It felt like no time went by at all." May answered.

"And the weird thing is, we all had a crush on him while travelling with him!" Serena exclaimed.

"But you're over that now?" Rosa asked.

"Of course we are." Dawn nodded.

"How did each of you meet him?" Hilbert asked once he recovered.

"I met him when he roasted my bike with his Pikachu." May answered.

"I met his Pikachu first, than when my bike got charred by Pikachu, that was when I met him." Dawn said.

"I actually met him when I was at a Pokemon summer camp when I was very young. He found me after I got startled by a Poliwag. I met him again when he was in Kalos and then he invited me to travel with him while May and Dawn followed him around until he could pay for their bikes." Serena explained.

"Which he never did." May and Dawn said. "We don't hold it against him though."

"Interesting." Hilda said as she took a sip of her café au lait.

"I know." Serena said.

Hilbert pulled Hilda, Rosa, and I into a huddle while the other three girls were busy talking to each other.

"Does anyone else think that this was the same Ash Leaf was talking about?" Hilbert asked.

"Who else will it be? He fits all of the criteria." I replied.

"Okay, we know that he travelled with these three girls. Do you think they know anything about Ashley?" Rosa asked.

"Highly unlikely. Ashley only participated in battles. These girls looked like they entered Contests and Showcases. They would know nothing about Ashley." Hilda answered.

"It's getting late. We just have to talk about this with the others." I said.

"Right." they nodded.

"We're sorry guys, but we have to go." Hilda said as we stood up.

"It was nice to meet all of you and we hope to meet all of you again!" Rosa said as we gathered up our bags.

I left some money on the table to pay for our share while Hilda and Hilbert called out Barbara and Brav.

Rosa hopped on Barbara with Hilda while I hopped on Brav with Hilbert. We waved goodbye to Serena, May, and Dawn as we flew into the sky.

"Do you think the others found anything else out about Ash?" Rosa asked.

"Maybe. We just need to wait until we meet up with them to find out." I answered as we flew through the sky.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Coincidentally, everyone arrived at the house at the same exact time.

"You would never believe what we found out!" everyone yelled at the same time. "What?"

"Let's just put all of the stuff away than we can talk about this is the living room." Leaf suggested.

Everyone took her suggestion and placed everything away before reuniting in the living room with the files Leaf and Amber found in Pallet Town.

"Who wants to go first?" Kristee asked.

"We'll go first!" Ethan yelled.

"Ethan, have some manners and let someone else go first." Kristee scolded him.

"But we met Ash!" Ethan protested.

"You actually met him?! Spill it!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Okay, so when we were in Olivine, we ran into Ash and his buddy, Gary. And it turns out, I battled him once, but he doesn't remember me." Ethan explained.

"Anyways, we found out that as you said, Ash had no memories of Ashley whatsoever." Kristee said.

"He doesn't remember having a twin sister at all." Argent added.

"Huh, I wonder if his friends knew about her?" Leaf wondered out loud.

"His friends?" everyone asked.

"Yep, his friends. We met some of them while we were in Slateport." Amber nodded.

"Though some of them are a bit ignorant." Rald crossed his arms.

"Anyways," Leaf continued. "We found out that a lot of people are friends with Ash, and they all each other. But none of them seems to know Ashley."

"We can conclude that these people know Ash and know each other, Gary, Brendan, May, Barry, Lucas, Dawn, and Serena." Amber listed them off her fingers. "We met Barry, Lucas, and Brendan in Slateport."

"Did you say May, Dawn, and Serena?" Hilda asked. Amber nodded.

"Why?" Leaf asked.

"We met them while we were shopping in Lumiose." Nate answered.

"Hilda and I met Dawn and May when May's Skitty attacked Hilda's hair and Dawn used her Piplup to tame her hair." Hilbert explained.

"Nate and I met Serena while trying to find the store. And we were lucky to find her, if she wasn't there, we would've never gotten in there." Rosa explained.

"We also found out that they had crushes on Ash that was short-lived and they all travelled with him at some point." Hilda added.

"Than it was a good thing we split up than. If we didn't, than we wouldn't have met the people we did and find out what we did." Kristee said.

"Okay, so we each met part of Ash's circle of friends and each got a bit of information. Question is, how are we supposed to tell it to Ashley?" Argent asked.

Everyone stayed quiet at the question.

"We don't." Leaf spoke up.

"What?" everyone looked at her.

"We don't tell her about Ash." Leaf repeated.

"Leaf, what are you saying?" Amber looked at her.

"We all care for Ashley, right?" she asked, everyone nodded. "Than we don't tell her about how her father has been lying to her for over ten years. Even if she finds out later and hates us for it, I don't want her to be mad at the one person who she actually remembered through her accident." Leaf explained.

"I suppose you're right." Hilda said.

"Should we tell Calem though? He should know if everyone else knows." Hilbert asked.

"We'll tell him." Leaf nodded. "But the most important thing is that no Ketchum will ever learn of this."

* * *

 **Yeah, this was a long one to write, but hey, another** **piece of the puzzle is in place. Or is it?**

 **Anyways, for your information, Gary's outfit is completely made up, with some added elements from Pokemon Origins. Ash's outfit is Red's from FRLG. Lucas, Barry, and Brendan's outfits are the same from** **the games, DP, Pt and ORAS respectively. The bottom half of Dawn's matches the bottom of her Pt outfit while the** **top half was based off of a picture I saw of her. May's is just a blue version of a combination between her RSE and ORAS outfit from the games. Serena's outfit was an outfit I made in XY and just fell in love with. Also her hair grew out so it's in a bob and she has grey contacts because I want her to.**

 **I know** **this is only a bit of the second gang to meet the first one, but they are coming with the first gang soon! Maybe.**

 **But** **I will have time to do all of that** **because** **I'm free!**

 ***opens eyes to see mountain** **of summer work***

 **Right. that's that. Stupid AP classes. And honors classes. And tennis. And vacation.**

 **I chose this life though. Wish me luck.**

 **Oh! Before I go, what do all of you think of the new Sun and Moon pokemon? And I know it's really early to confirm it, but I think Trainer Customization is coming back! Hopefully!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**

 **Psst! I forgot, I'm also releasing a new story next time I update! I'm not spilling too much now, but let's just say, are you a royal or a rebel?**


	12. Guests

**Surprise! I'm updating again this week! Why, you ask? Because I feel so. How do you guys like the new cover? I drew it myself. Unfortunately, I can only draw semi chibi style. I cannot draw full proportional figures. But that is what Scarlett looks like.**

 **So get this, I think I figured out the timeline for Pokemon Adventures; everything goes right as it does up to the HGSS chapter where ORAS happens at the same time. If any of you keep up, then you know that Red and (female) Blue jumps in there. But where's Green? My theory is that ORAS and XY happens at the same time since Green is on his own in Kalos. So that means ORAS, XY, and B2W2 happens at the same time. BW would've been taken place two years before then and a year before DPPt.**

 **Okay. I'm done. Now it's review time!**

 **.18: Mind if I call you AM18? It's going to be easier for me when typing your name. I have a reason not to add Lyra in since Ash's hang only really met her once and don't really know her yet. And I'm going to make her seem bubbly and peppy, not like the anime version though. Sorry. And yes. Oh, yes he's going to ins out in a most unexpected way. Would you talk about the man who just stole your baby daughter from you and never contacted you again? After over ten years and knowing how your husband can just leave without notice, you can see how mad she can be. As for Gary, I'm going to go for more mangaverse, but a little bit of anime in there. Add some game and you got yourself the Gary in this fic.**

 **Cutesaralisa: As interesting as that would be, sorry, but no. A homicidal Ashley would sound funny, but we need everyone alive. For now.**

 **I know that it is totally weird for a teen like me, but I can't get enough of Pentatonix! My personal favorite has to be Kevin, and not only because of the awesome beats he can make:**

 **1) Check out their covers with Lindsey Stirling. The cello can actually be awesome.**

 **2) Watch "We Are Ninjas". They really should spotlight him more.**

 **Wow. This is a long author's note already.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I wish I did though.**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Prepare for trouble..."

"...and make it double!"

"Oh brother." I facepalmed as a smoke bomb was thrown down at us.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"Do you know what's going on?" X asked.

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Unfortunately so." I answered X.

"Cassidy!"

"And Butch, of course!"

"Who are they?" X asked.

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

"Rat! Raticate!"

"Shuckle!"

"Remember when I told you how I know about Argent?" I replied.

"Hey! Listen to us when we're reciting our motto!" a guy with green hair shook his fist at us from a Raticate balloon in the sky.

"Shut up, Botch!" I yelled at him.

"It's Butch!" he yelled back.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at him. "I blasted your sorry asses before and I'm doing it again." I said as Pika got her cheeks charged up.

"We never seen you before. But nonetheless!" Cassidy exclaimed as she held up an extendable claw with a glass ball on one end. The claw reached out and scooped up Pika and locked her in the ball.

"Pika!" I shouted as she ended up in Team Rocket's reach.

"Haha!" they laughed. "Let's see you blast us off now, twerp!"

"Oh, okay." I said calmly as Rio let herself out, like she read my mind. Which she did.

 _May I?_ she asked.

"Go ahead. Use Aura Sphere." I told her.

 _This is going to be fun._ she smirked as she charged up an Aura Sphere in her paws. Once it got big enough, she let it loose.

"We finally got an annoying twerpette's Pikachu!" Cassidy boasted, not noticing the flying orb of blue energy heading for her and Biff.

"Hey, did someone just call me-" Bob started, only to get blasted by the Aura Sphere.

"We're blasting off again!" Team Rocket exclaimed as they became a twinkle in the sky.

"Pi!" Pika exclaimed as an aura barrier appear below her.

"Gotcha." I smiled as I brought the barrier down lower until Pika jumped into my arms.

 _You're getting better with that._ Rio commented.

"I know." I said. "Should we get going then?"

"Again, who are they?" X asked as we began walking.

"You know how I told you about a couple of Team Rocket grunts trailing me around all the time?" I looked at him.

"Yeah. I think so." he nodded.

"They were the ones. But they always get blasted off by me." I explained.  
"Oh. Are they always that weak?" X asked.

"Yes, and they always try to steal Pika." I added.

We walked along for a while. The last week has been calm. Really calm, actually. The only real action we had was just tying up poachers and having Rio train me in the ways of aura.

We stopped to set up camp when it was sundown. After we got the campsite set up, we still had some time to spare after making the fire, preparing the food, and setting up the tent. It was getting colder out here. And since X ripped his tent, we had to share one.

"I'm going to go take a shower." I announced as I draped a towel over my arm.

"Where?" X asked. "There's no big bodies of water near here."

"There's a small waterfall and pond near here." I answered. "Pika, Rio, Kanga, and Li'l' Kanga." I looked at them. "Make sure none of them are going to peek."

 _You can count on us._ Rio saluted.

"Pika pi." Pika nodded.

"Kan. Kanga. Khan ga Kangaskhan." Kanga and Li'l Kanga nodded.

 _They said, if any of the boys tries to peek, they'll shock them with a Thunderbolt and Mama Kanga is going to Mega Punch all of them back to Kalos!_ Rio translated with a grin.

"Good enough for me." I shrugged.

"What?!" X exclaimed as I walked away from them. Pika, Rio, Kanga, and Li'l Kanga followed me into the bushes.

It seemed like they agreed to guard in three different levels. First, it's Rio to sense anyone coming, then it's Pika to shock anyone, and finally, it's Kanga and Li'l Kanga who would knock them into the atmosphere.

Once they were all at their positions, I moved away a couple of bushes to reveal the lake with the small waterfall. I quickly took off my clothes and wrap the towel around me. I slowly stepped into the lake and already felt refreshed.

I walked under the waterfall, took off my towel, draping it over a nearby tree, and started to wash my hair. I let the natural running water rinse my hair and wash myself in the lake. The water was waist deep so it was enough to wash most of my body.

I heard a slight rustle in the bushes, but ignored it. Probably a fallen berry. There are a lot of berry trees surrounding the lake.

I thought of it no more until I heard a bush sneeze. Wait a minute, a bush can't sneeze!

I turned towards the bush to see X standing there.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" I screamed as I quickly covered my chest with my arms and hands.

"Kanga!" I heard Kanga stomp as I reached for my towel.

 _Scarlett!_ Rio shouted as, I presume, she and Pika ran towards the lake. I wrapped the towel around me quickly and got out of the lake.

"Ah! Whoa! Kanga! it was all a misunderstanding! No! Wait!" X yelled. "Aaaahhhhhh!"

I quickly put on my leggings and dress before sitting down against a tree.

 _Scarlett!_ Rio and Pika bursted through the bushes. _Are you okay?_ Rio asked.

"Let's see, the boy I like just saw me naked while I was washing up. Do I look okay to you?!" I exclaimed.

 _So I'll take that as a 'no'?_ Rio sweatdropped.

"Pi pika chu ka pi." PIka shook her head.

"How did you guys not notice him coming?" I asked them. "You guys had enough skills to not let anyone through."

 _We actually got distracted._ Rio answered.

"How?" I asked.

 _Lasma was appearing and disappearing around the area so we had to chase him down. I guess Kanga was also busy with him because she didn't kick X out._ Rio explained.

"When I get my hands on X, he is dead!" I exclaimed, clenching my fist tightly.

"Ka chu pika chu ka pi pikachu chu?" Pika asked.

"What did she say?" I asked.

 _She said, 'What do you think your dad is going to do when he finds out about X peeking at you?'._ Rio translated.

I felt the color drain from my face at the thought of my dad ever finding out. If you think having his Charizard sending a boy who was just flirting with me to the hospital for stitches was extreme, imagine how bad it will be if he find out a boy, who I am living under the same roof with, was peeking at me while I was naked. Yeah. Not good.

"As much as I hate X for looking at me when I was naked, my dad can't know." I shook my head violently. "Even if X couldn't move for the rest of his life, my dad would probably lock me up in my room, with cameras, motion sensors, laser beams, and a security robot guarding me until I'm dead."

 _Don't you think that's extreme?_ Rio crossed her arms.

"Chu pi ka, pi chu pikachu ka." Pika shook her head.

 _Wow, really?_ Rio looked at her. _Okay, I believe you, but your dad actually sent a boy to the hospital?_ she asked me.

"Yes and that boy ended up needing stitches." I nodded.

 _Man, remind me never to get on her dad's bad side._ Rio said to Pika.

"Kan. Kangaskhan kanga?" Kanga and Li'l Kanga came stomping up behind me.

 _She asked if you're okay._ Rio translated.

"I'm fine, Kanga." I answered her. "Tell me, what did you do to X?"

"Kanga khan khan. Kangaskhan!" Li'l Kanga answered.

"Translation?" I looked at Rio.

 _He said, 'Mama punched Buddy X and then shocked him! It was fun to watch!'._ Rio translated.

"Well, at least he got some kind of punishment from you guys." I commented as I stood up. I picked up my towel and started to dry my hair with it.

 _Don't you worry. Pika and I are going to do much worse._ Rio grinned.

"Kangaskhan." Kanga stomped.

 _Oh, and Kanga wants to finish her work because she accidentally punched X back into the clearing before she could finish._ Rio translated.

"Pi pika chu ka pi." Pika said.

 _Hmm. I didn't think of that. But I'm sure Saur, Tor, and Char would also want to join in. X did peek at their Trainer while she was bathing._ Rio said to Pika. _But I think they would want to take care of X's male pokemon first since they agreed to his plan._

"What ever they choose to do, I want everyone involved to be punished." I said as I ran my fingers through my hair, getting rid of any tangles or knots. "Kanga?" I turned to the Kangaskhan. "Can you go ahead to the campsite and find out what X did exactly?"

"Khan." she nodded and stomped back with Li'l Kanga in her pouch.

 _Need me to send X a message?_ Rio asked.

"No, I want to say something to him personally. And physically." I narrowed my eyes as I put my jacket on. I am going to make him pay for looking at me when I told him not to.

"Let's go." I said after I placed on my gloves and boots. I grabbed my towel and Rio, Pika, and I walked back to the campsite.

When I got back there, I found something I didn't expect to see.

"Gen gen gen! Gar!" Lasma exclaimed as he was being dangled upside down by Kanga.

"How?" I started.

 _Li'l Kanga knows Foresight._ Rio explained.

"Char! Charizard!" Salamè had his arms and wings tied behind his back with his tail with Char and his foot on his back.

"Is that possible?"

 _Seems like it is._

"Ches! Naught!" Marisso exclaimed as he was entrapped by Saur's vines. Actually, he resembles a mummy with the bandages as thick, green vines coming from the ground.

"I can actually handle that."

 _Eh. Nothing I haven't seen before._

"Ele!" Élec whined as Tor was sitting on him.

"Okay, that is just extreme."

 _Seems appropriate to me._

"Pi, pikachu." Pika pointed to the tent, which was shaking.

"And now, it's my turn." I growled as I walked towards the tent.

X, meet a whole new world of pain.

* * *

After I finally calmed down my pokemon and got X and all of his pokemon, except for Kanga and Li'l Kanga, much needed medical attention, we went on our way.

We haven't seen any poachers lately. Did we get them all?

"Ahh!"

I guess not.

"Even though I didn't plan this, I might as well make this another punishment for you." I said as I sat down on a tree stump which was somehow in the middle of the road.

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry!" X cried as he dangled in a net hanging from a tree in front of me.

"Yeah, no." I said flatly. "I clearly told you, with several pokemon as witnesses, to not peek, but you did. And you even recruited your pokemon into helping you." I said. "First, you had Marisso and Élec distract my pokemon. Than, you had Lasma lure Pika, Rio, Kanga, and Li'l Kanga away. And finally, you took your chance and took a look."

"I was just taking a walk through the forest! Lasma was playing pranks as always! aAd Marisso and Élec were playing with your pokemon!" X said in his defence.

"Not buying it." I glared at him.

"Come on! Just asked Rio! She can tell when someone's lying, right?!" X exclaimed.

"Fine." I said as I let Rio out.

 _What do you need?_ Rio said before she spotted X in a net. _Can I hit him like a piñata?_

"No, not yet." I told her. "X, repeat what you just said."

"Marisso and Élec were playing with Saur, Char, and Tor. Lasma decided to pull pranks on Pika, Kanga, Li'l Kanga, and you. And I was taking a walk through the forest when I saw Scarlett." X said.

 _Wow. He's actually telling the truth._ Rio looked surprised. _And here I am, hoping to knock some sense into him._

"Really?" I looked at her.

 _If he wasn't, than I would be beating him up right now._ Rio pointed out.

"Okay." I said as I returned Rio. "You're off the hook." I said as a created a small aura blade and threw it at the net.

I turned back to the road as X fell down. I walked ahead as X hurried up to me.

"We do not mention one word of the incident or any of the other incidents to my father if you value your life." I stated once X was walking next to me. "If you do, you will not only be beaten by my father, but by me. I will make your life a living Hell." I threatened as I glared at X right in his eyes.

"Understood." X said quickly.

"Good." I broke eye contact with him and speed walked down the road.

We walked around for another hour or two. I actually lost track of time. Time flies when you're angry at someone when they saw you when you were naked.

But as we were walking, my anger subsided. So did the thought of my dad killing me when we came back to the house. We've been here longer than two weeks. Exactly two weeks and one day. Yep, he's going to be mad because we were gone for an extra day! That's Red Ketchum for you.

I stopped when I felt a disturbance somewhere.

"Why did you stop?" X asked.

"Something doesn't feel right." I mumbled. I closed my eyes and tried to see any auras.

I sensed there were about 10 sinister looking auras to the right of us, but there was an extra one there. One that doesn't feel as bad as the others. One that feels familiar. One that is-

"Mew!" I exclaimed as I snapped open my eyes.

"What?! Scarlett! Wait!" I heard X yell, but it was too late. I was already dashing off to save Mew.

Ever since the first day here, that little pink cat have been causing trouble! Especially for me! I didn't care if she was the cause of my unexpected awakening in X's arms, but I couldn't do anything to her because she's always gone! But now, she's gotten herself in more trouble than she should have.

"Get away from her!" I exclaimed as I launch an Aura Sphere into the group of poachers as I entered the clearing.

The poachers all fell to the ground as the Aura Sphere whizzed above their heads.

"What the-?" a big, ugly one with a red nose and mustache exclaimed as he looked towards me.

"Let Mew go!" I exclaimed as all of my pokemon let themselves out. I looked ahead to see Mew caught in a net.

"Not a chance." the Wario poacher said as they all released about three pokemon each.

So it's thirty poacher pokemon consisting of Rhyperior, Electivire, Magmortar, Dusknoir, and Probopass against my five. Seems fair enough.

"Saur, use Frenzy Plant!" I ordered.

"Venusaur!" Saur lifted his front legs up and slammed them onto the ground. When he did, the ground broke as dozens of green glowing spiked roots broke to the surface. The roots grabbed the six Electivire and held them in the air before slamming them in the ground.

 _To your right!_ Rio warned.

"Tor, Hydro Cannon!" I pointed to the six Rhyperior coming my way.

"Blastoise!" Tor set his cannons on his back and launched two powerful glowing blue streams of water from his cannons. The water pushed back the Rhyperior as it made contact.

"Char, use Blast Burn!" I commanded.

"Charizard!" Char opened his mouth as it light up with a bright red flame. The flame turned into a glowing red stream of fire as he aimed it towards the six Dusknoir. The Dusknoir were engulfed with fire as it hit them.

"Rio, Aura Sphere!" I yelled.

 _Eat this!_ Rio screamed as she charged up an Aura Sphere in her paws. When the Aura Sphere was the size of a Wailmer, she launched it at the six Probopass. Each Probopass was pushed back into each other.

"Pika, time to finish this."I growled. "Volt Tackle!"

"Pikachu!" Pika hopped from my shoulder and ran towards the six Magmortar. As she ran, she charged up electricity and glowed yellow. She tackled into the Magmortar hard which caused an explosion.

The explosion covered the entire battlefield. I took the chance and used my aura to find Mew and cut her free. She slipped out and flew off somewhere. When the smoke cleared, all of the poachers' pokemon were fainted while mines were all at full health.

"What the-!?" Wario exclaimed. "Why you-!" he glared at me.

"You haven't seen anything yet, you bastards." I snarled. "May our hearts connect as one, Mega Evolve! Char! Saur! Tor!" I exclaimed as I grabbed my Mega Locket. The Key Stone in my hand glowed brightly as the ribbons of light slipped through my fingers.

Simultaneously, three burst of lights appeared from Char's, Tor's, and Saur's Mega Stones. Once the red and orange, blue and brown, and green and pink, respectively, energy shells broke, they were all Mega Evolved.

"Char!"

"Blast!"

"Saur!" they roared.

"Ultimate Attacks Combo! Blast Burn! Hydro Cannon! Frenzy Plant! Volt Tackle!" I screamed.

"Char!"

"Blast!"

"Saur!"

"Pika!"

And then, there was a bright light.

* * *

 **X's POV**

I stared in awe as Scarlett was singlehandedly defeating the poachers. She was a monster out there.

"Ultimate Attacks Combo! Blast Burn! Hydro Cannon! Frenzy Plant! Volt Tackle!" she screamed.

I covered my eyes as the four attacks combined into one. Through my eyelids, I could see a bright light and felt an explosion. When I opened up my eyes, I saw that the poachers were nowhere in sight and Scarlett and her pokemon were all standing.

My jaw dropped. I just saw a girl, who only had five pokemon defeat ten poachers with the Ultimate Attacks. Her Charizard can Mega Evolve and knows Blast Burn, her Venusaur can also Mega Evolve and knows Frenzy Plant, her Blastoise can Mega Evolve and knows Hydro Cannon, and her Pikachu knows Volt Tackle. She had just Mega Evolve three of her pokemon at the same time and she just performed the Ultimate Attacks Combo. Wow.

I finally closed my mouth and walked into the clearing. Scarlett's pokemon reverted back into their normal forms and she fell to her knees.

"Scarlett!" I ran up to her. "Are you okay?" I asked as I kneeled down to her.

"Yeah. I'm fine." she smiled at me. "I just got a little carried away."

" _I'll say. You sent those poachers all the way to the International Police Headquarters. You sure did a number to them."_ a high pitched voice said.

"Mew, you're exaggerating it." Scarlett rolled her eyes.

" _Am I?"_ the air in front of us rippled until an image appeared. It was of a prison cell in a large building. Suddenly, the roof broke and ten men fell into a cell.

"Oh. Than maybe I did." Scarlett sweatdropped as the image faded away.

"What is happening?" I asked, very confused.

" _Whoopsies!"_ the voice said as a Mew appeared in front of us. " _Hi! I'm Mew!"_

"I can see." I said, surprised.

"Mew, ever since the first day we stepped foot in this place, you have been playing pranks on us and now you choose to reveal yourself?" Scarlett looked at Mew.

" _Yep!"_ Mew exclaimed.

"Wait, playing pranks? So she must be the one who teleported you during the middle of the night!" I exclaimed.

"Of course. I always knew it was her." Scarlett said.

"You knew?!"I exclaimed.

"Yeah. It was obvious." she said.

"Than why were you blaming me for it?!" I exclaimed.

"Because if I said it was by a legendary pokemon, than you would think I was crazy." she replied.

" _You are."_ Mew chimed in.

"Shut up!" Scarlett shouted. "Don't make me get Mewtwo here!"

" _Eep!"_ Mew hid behind me.

"How do you know Mew and Mewtwo?" I asked Scarlett.

"It's a long story." she sighed. She turned back to Mew. "You saw how much trouble you got in here. Can you teleport somewhere else so you won't get in trouble? I can't get you out every time."

" _Fine. You're no fun."_ Mew pouted. " _By the way. There's no more poachers around here."_ she said before teleporting away.

"Well, it seems like we completed our mission. In a very weird way." I said.

"Yeah. Let's head home." Scarlett said as we stood up. She returned her pokemon, except for Char and Pika, and climbed onto Char.

I let out Salamè and climbed onto him.

"Ready?" Scarlett asked me.

"Ready." I nodded. Char and Salamè took off and soon, we were soaring through the sky and to home.

Boy, I am never forgetting this mission.

* * *

 **Sorry if the ending was a bit rushed, but never mess with Scarlett when she's mad. Seriously, she can kick ass.**

 **Mew's a personal favorite for me. But will she snitch on Scarlett for the little 'incident'? Only time will tell. Hehe.**

 **That's enough for today.**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	13. Stress

**Hello everyone. Okay, I'm making this short since I just got dumped with another summer assignment after I got finished with my original load and I have to get it done before my upcoming family vacation. So this is the start of Part Two which is a transitional phase from the set up to the actual part of the story I originally had in mind when I thought of this.**

 **And to the reviews:**

 **.18: I'll try to, but remember, the entire gang haven't met up yet. I'm not going to spoil much since I know that I gave you so much already, but it could be both. Maybe. As for Ash, you just need to wait and find out.**

 **Redstar (Guest): Well, Ashley did travel a lot. Maybe even a visit to Cerulean Cave where a certain pokemon was (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Gary and Ash were at City Hall since, well, it's they're town and was just walking around and as for the port, maybe a little trip on the S.S Aqua. Remember, I'm blending the games, anime, and manga together here. It shouldn't be them you should be suspecting; someone else has a big secret. But I'm not saying who!**

 **I fear I'm making this longer then I should. Now to the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Pokemon at all. Except for my own OCs of course.**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

 **Rosa's POV**

"Hey! Hilda, check this out!" Hilbert exclaimed as him, Hilda, Nate, and I sat outside on the patio set in the backyard.

"Check what out?" Hilda asked as she looked up from her magazine.

"I perfected a new combo using Bo and Brav!" HIlbert replied.

"Is this the new one we showed us fifteen times before?" Nate asked.

"No! This is a new one!" Hilbert exclaimed.

"Sure it is." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Nate, be nice." Hilda elbowed our brother. "Go on, Hilbert. Show us."

"Alright!" Hilbert pumped his fist. He turned back to his pokémon. "Bo! Use Flame Charge! Brav, Sky Drop!"

Bo bursted into flames and charged at Brav. Brav flew at Bo and picked him up using his talons. With Bo in tow, Brav flew high into the sky.

"Now, use Superpower! Both of you!" Hilbert yelled.

While in the air, both pokémon began to glow blue while Bo was still in flames. Both pokémon then descended and crashed into a practice dummy, shattering it.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed as I blocked the cloud of smoke and flying debris. "Some power!"

"I know!" Hilbert grinned. "It took a lot of work trying to get them control their Superpower and not attack each other with it."

"So Superpower was the main move while Sky Drop and Flame Charge added more damage and additional effects?" Nate looked at him. "Seems like a good combo to me. Sky Drop immobilize the opponent, which was the dummy instead of Bo, while Flame Charge boost the speed of both Bo and Brav."

"Ah, yeah! That's why! Not just because it looked cool!" Hilbert said quickly as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Still, why is Hilda into him?" I looked at my twin.

"One of the many mysteries in life." he shrugged.

"Both of you shut up!" Hilda had us in headlocks.

"Am I missing something?" Hilbert asked.

"Nothing!" Hilda yelled as she let go of us.

"Let's head inside." I suggested as I rubbed my head. "I heard that Leaf wants to go over notes again."

"This is like the third time this week. Do we really have to do this?" Hilbert complained.

"Hilbert, this is Ashley's missing life. We have to." Hilda said.

"Even the smallest detail will help us." Nate shrugged.

"Come on." I said as Hilda, Nate, Hilbert, and I faced the house.

"Oof!" I heard Hilbert exclaimed followed by two loud thuds.

"Hilbert!" Hilda exclaimed as we turned back to him. He was flatten under two Charizard.

"We're back!" Calem announced.

"Ah!" Ashley gasped. "We landed on Hilbert!"

"Guess I miscalculated where we landed." Calem sweatdropped.

"Can you ... get off of me? ... Can't breath." Hilbert was turning blue under the weight of the two Charizard and their trainers.

They quickly scrambled off and returned their pokémon.

"Sorry about that, man." Calme said as he helped Hilbert up.

"I was only following this idiot." Ashley jerked her thumb towards Calem.

"It wasn't my fault!" he exclaimed.

"I don't believe it." she turned away.

"We're so happy you're back!" I exclaimed as I hugged Ashley.

"But why were you guys gone for so long?" Nate asked.

"For the record, we were only gone for one extra day! It's not much." Ashley said. "But my dad will probably be mad at us for it though."

"We had more trouble tracking down Mew." Calem explained.

"I'm sure that Red will be-" Hilda was cut off by something running up and tackling into Ashley.

"Ah!" she yelled as she was pushed back ten feet. "Dad, get off of me!"

"Did he do anything to you?!" Red got off of Ashley and glared at Calem, who hid behind Nate and I.

"He did nothing. I'm fine." Ashley said.

"Listen up, if you even-"

"Damn it Dad, knock it off already!" Ashley screamed. Everyone went quiet. I spotted the others look out of the house out of the corner of my eye.

"I know that as a father, you can't help, but feel like protect me, but I'm 16 already. I can take care of myself." Ashley said quietly. "I've been holding it in ever since I met you again, but I'm tired of it. You're worrying over me after you left _me_ for over ten years?" her voice rose. "Well guess what, you didn't care about me for those ten years and didn't even bother to check in or visit me anymore. I've looked for you for those ten years, and yet, you made no attempt to contact me. So don't even excuse yourself as a father for being so damn overprotective of me when you know I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself after ten years without my father and basically my entire life without a mother!" she yelled before running into the house.

I looked at Hilda and she nodded. She and I ran into the house while the boys stood outside. Leaf, Amber, and Kristee were already waiting outside Ashley's door when Hilda and I went up there.

"Ashley, sweetie? Are you okay?" Leaf asked.

"We know it was hard for you." Amber said.

"But we're here for you. You can talk to us." Kris added.

"Just let us in." Hilda begged.

"We'll talk about it together." I said.

The door opened and a shiny Riolu was standing in the door frame.

"Ri. Riolu." the Riolu gestured for us to come in and led us inside.

Ashley was sitting up in her bed, clutching her pillow that was stained with tears.

"Thanks Rio." Ashley said before she returned the Riolu.

"You got another pokémon?" Leaf asked as she sat down next to Ashley. She nodded weakly.

"She's a special pokémon too. You don't see many shiny pokémon around Mt Silver." Amber noted as she sat on Ashley's other side.

"How did you meet her?" Hilda asked as she and I were standing.

"Saved her from some poachers." Ashley answered simply.

"That's good." I commented.

"I guess." she shrugged.

"Listen, honey." Leaf said. "We all know that what you just said to your father was tough and it was brave of you to do that."

"I knew that if it was me down there, I would've never be able to do that." Amber shook her head.

"Ashley, Rosa and I know what it's like. Our father was horrible. But you're lucky. Your father actually cares about you." Hilda said.

"If you think having a father who deserted you for ten years was tough, imagine having him be a homicidal maniac who wanted to kill you and freeze all of Unova." I joked.

Ashley laughed a bit. "Sorry girls, I was just a bit upset on how my dad keeps treating me. I'm just sick of it."

"Hey, nobody's blaming you." Kristee said as she sat in a chair. "We all get stressed out sometimes."

"And after being in Mt Silver for over two weeks, you must be stressed." I said. "For the rest of the day, just relax. We'll take care of the boys for you."

"Thanks. You girls are the best." Ashley smiled.

"Group hug!" Leaf exclaimed as she dragged everyone in the room for a hug.

After a minute or two of hugging, Hilda decided to stop the moment. "Enough hugging. Let's leave Ashley alone right now."

We all stood up from our spots and exited Ashley's room. As Amber closed the door, Leaf spoke up. "So, when are we going to tell Calem?"

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

 _You okay?_ Rio asked as she popped out of her pokeball.

"I'm fine. That talk was what I need." I threw my pillow back on my bed as I walked to the bathroom. I turned on the sink and washed my face free of any stray tears.

I came back into my room and saw Rio and Pika playing a card game.

 _Got any 7's?_ Rio asked.

"Pi." Pika threw a card towards her.

"What are you guys playing?" I asked them.

 _Go Goldeen._ Rio answered. _Wanna play?_

"No thanks, but I think there's enough room for the others to play, right?" I asked.

"Pika." Pika nodded. When she nodded, the rest of my pokeball bursted open and the rest of my pokémon were playing Go Goldeen near the balcony so Char had room to stretch his wings.

I shook my head at them. Sometimes, I don't understand my pokémon.

A knock came from my door. "Ashley? Are you in there? It's Calem." his voice came through.

"I'm here." I answered as I opened the door.

"Are you okay? Your outburst was a bit-" Calem scratched his head.

"Extreme? I know." I said. "The other girls were just in here."

"Oh. So they talked to you?" he asked.

"Yep, and it ended with a big group hug courtesy of Leaf." I nodded.

"Can I come in?" Calem asked.

"Can we go to your room? My pokémon are playing a card game in there right now and it's a bit cramped." I replied.

"Sure. Just follow me." Calem nodded. I closed my door behind me and walked past the Leaf's blue door and Amber's yellow door to get to the elevator. We got in and pressed the button to go up one floor.

We got off and Calem led me to his door, a blue one with two white horizontal stripes near the top and bottom. He opened the door and I walked in. His room had the same layout as the others, but his walls were a royal blue with white borders and his carpet was black. His white curtains were pulled over his door to his balcony.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" I asked as I sat down on his bed.

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. That's all." he rubbed the back of his head as he sat next to me. "You seemed upset."

"As I said, I'm fine." I smiled at him. "You have nothing to worry about."

"I was just wondering since all that stuff that happened between us during the mission." he blushed.

Now it was my time to blush. "Yeah, it had nothing to do with that. I promise."

"I actually had this question ever since the last day we were there." he coughed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I saw that you had a birthmark between your shoulder blades" he looked away.

"Oh, that?" I looked at him. "It's just nothing. I had it ever since I was born."

"But when I saw it, it looked weird." he said.

"Really?" I asked. Since it was right behind me. I never had a good look at it. "What does it look like?"

"It was a small drop of water on a leaf with an outline of a fire outside the leaf." he explained.

"Huh. I never noticed." I replied.

"But like you said, we don't mention anything that happens between us to anybody?" he asked.

"Of course." I smiled. "You can trust me and I can trust you."

"Ditto." Calem nodded.

"And since you said that, can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Shoot." he nodded.

"You said you are afraid of heights, but whenever we're flying, you are never scared." I said.

"Well, the thing is," Calem rubbed the back of his head. "I'm only scared when I'm alone up there or with someone I don't trust. Whenever I'm flying, I also have my pokemon and someone I trust up there, so I'm never afraid."

"I see." I nodded. I guess it does make sense in a way.

"Calem, we need to-" the door was slammed opened as everyone, but my dad, barged in.

"Um, did we interrupt something?" Amber asked.

"Nope. Just some talking." I said as I stood up. I walked past everyone and out of Calem's room. I took the elevator back to my room and opened the door.

When I did, I did not expect to see what I saw.

 _Ha! I win again!_ Rio exclaimed as she pushed a pile of pokedollars towards her.

"What are you guys doing?"I asked them.

 _Playing poker._ Rio answered.

"Is that my money?" I pointed towards the pokedollars.

 _We had to use something._ Rio shrugged.

"Pi pika pi chu." Pika grumbled.

"Char." Char nodded.

"Ven." Saur nodded.

"Blast." Tor nodded.

 _I did not cheat! Just because I can use my aura does not mean I use it for everything!_ Rio protested.

"Put my money back into my bag." I rubbed my temples. Rio stood up and placed the pokedollar back in my shoulder bag as I returned Char, Saur, and Tor.

Pika hopped on my bed and curled up to take a nap. I sat at my desk with Rio standing on my bed.

"Since we're home now, can you still teach me?" I asked her.

 _Of course. But we're getting to the advanced stuff now so it might be a bit harder to cover up._ she warned.

"It doesn't matter." I shook my head. "I'll find a way to keep it a secret."

 _Now, can you tell me more about your friends here?_

* * *

 **Calem's POV**

"Why are you guys doing in here?" I asked the crowd of people in my room.

"We need to tell you something very, very, very important." Leaf stated as she closed the door.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It involves Ashley." Amber said.

"What about her?" I asked.

"It actually has to do with her past." Kristee corrected.

"What about it?"I asked, getting annoyed.

"This." Argent handed me a pile of files. I grabbed them from him and scanned them.

"What are these? Where did you get these?"I asked as I looked over each one.

"Amber and I went to Pallet Town and broke into city hall to steal those." Leaf explained.

"We found out that Ashley's birth mother is alive and she has a twin brother." Amber added. "We talked to her mother, but she refused to talk about Red and didn't even mention Ashley."

"The rest of us eventually found out when we saw those files in Leaf's room." Rald said.

"And when we went to go do our errands, we ran into some people." Ethan added.

"Ethan, Argent and I ran into Ashley's twin brother, Ash and his friend, Gary." Kris said.

"Prez, Rosa, Nate, and I ran into three girls named Serena, Dawn, and May." Hilbert added.

"And Leaf, Amber, and I met three guys called Barry, Brendan, and Lucas." Rald said.

"Turns out, they all know Ash. And we were able to get some information from them." Nate said.

"One, they all know each other. Two, Serena, Dawn,and May all travelled with Ash. And three, Ash and Gary has no idea that Ashley even existed ever." Rosa counted on her fingers.

"So, the main thing is?"I asked.

"Red has been lying to Ashley for her entire life. Her mother is alive and she has a twin brother who knows nothing about her." Leaf stated. "Like Ashley, Ash had some kind of amnesia and forgot Ashley while still remembering Red, who Delia, Ashley's and Ash's mother, hates for some reason."

"We have reason to suspect that that 'accident' Ashley had was more than it really was." Kristee said.

"And Red is covering it up." Hilda added.

"Than why are we in my room for? We have to tell Ashley." I stood up.

"No." Leaf grabbed my shoulder. "We all promised not to tell her."

"Why?"I broke free of her grip.

"As much as it would ruin our friendship with Ashley if she ever found out, we don't want her to blame her father." Amber explained. "You saw how she acted towards her father for being so overprotective. And she still loved him. We don't want her to break free of the only family she has right now."

"You want to make her happy, right?" Argent asked.

"Of course I do, but this is-" I started.

"Something we have to keep a secret." Leaf said.

"Fine."I sighed. I hate keeping something so big about her from her.

"Listen, Calem. I know it's hard. We all going to have trouble with it, but it's what's best for her, and you know it." Leaf said softly.

"It's just-, what if she finds out?" I asked.

"Than we all take the blame." Ethan said.

"Alright." I handed the files back to Leaf. "Get out of here. I need some space to think."

"We'll leave you alone for now. I know it's a lot to take in." Leaf said as she stood in the doorway while everyone else filed out. "But you have to remember, never ever tell Ashley a word of this."

"You have my word." I nodded. She nodded back and closed the door behind her.

I sat back down my my bed and took my hat off. I ran a hand through my hair. "How am I ever going to keep this from her?"

* * *

 **Argent's POV**

"Do you think we can trust him? He really likes her after all." I asked Nee-san when we were on the roof top.

"That's why we can trust him. He likes her too much to hurt her." Nee-san explained.

"But Leaf, are you sure about this?" Amber asked.

"Of course." she nodded. "All of us have nothing else from our parents and even if we do, we chose to leave them behind in this new life we chose. Ashley has her father back with her after over ten years without him. You saw that this morning with her outburst at him. Ever since she came here, she seemed so strong, but she was actually broken inside and we saw a little bit of that today. Imagine if she found out her only father lied to her. She would crumple."

"It still doesn't feel right though." Rosa said.

"We still have to. Some of the best choices are some of the toughest." Nate assured his sister.

"We're just lucky that Red decided to take off for awhile after being yelled at." Hilbert noted. "If he was here, he would've heard everything we said."

"Speaking of which, I finally dismantled those cameras and microphones." Rald spoke up. "We'll have no trouble with him spying on us anymore."

"Where did you put those cameras than?" Amber asked.

"Ethan told me that he needs them." Rald answered.

"You what?" Kristee growled.

"I'm on it." I punched Ethan in his stomach since he was right next to me.

"Thank you." she nodded.

"Any time." I nodded back.

"So who's up for some training?" Nee-san asked.

"Uh, guys?" Hilda spoke up. She was looking over the edge of the roof overlooking the backyard. "You might want to see this."

We all crowded to the edge and looked over. Ashley was out in the backyard with her pokémon. It looked like she had a blindfold on while a shiny Riolu was throwing Aura Spheres at her. Expertly, Ashley dodged each and every one of them.

Pika was behind her and used Iron Tail, but Ashley sidestepped out of the way. Saur stomped the ground and several vines shot up. As the vines broke threw the ground, Ashley ran through them, avoiding running into a single one.

Char was flying through the air and tried to hit Ashley with a Flamethrower, but she dodged each blast. Tor flew towards her with a Zen Headbutt, but Ashley jumped out of the way and landed on top of Char. While flying, she took the blindfold off and cheered.

"Way to go!" Nee-san shouted.

Ashley turned towards us and flew closer.

"You guys saw my training?" she asked while Char was hovering.

"That was just amazing. How are you able to do that?" Hilbert asked.

"Had some training from Rio, my shiny Riolu, while at Mt Silver." Ashley explained.

"If I recall, Riolu can't normally learn Aura Sphere." Kristee pointed out.

"They can't, but Rio is able to for some reason. She knew it when I caught her." Ashley replied.

"We'll let you get back to your training. You seemed really focused down there." Amber said.

"I was. See you guys later." Ashley waved as Char descended down.

"If she was able to do all that, then what will she do if she found out we were keeping something from her?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know." Nee-san answered.

* * *

 **Amber's POV**

"Red's still gone. What are we going to do?" I asked. It's been several hours since Red left after being yelled at. Everyone was in the living room.

"What about some shopping?" Leaf perked up.

"Leaf, we just did some shopping and we made a serious dent in Red's account after we brought the clothes for us. Mainly you though." Rosa pointed out.

"Anyone else has any ideas?" Calem asked.

"TV?" Rald suggested.

"I checked. There's nothing good to watch." Ethan countered.

"Anything in the other regions?" Hilda asked.

"No. Just boring stuff." Kristee sighed.

"What about a battle royale?" Ashley suggested.

"That sounds fun." Hilbert nodded.

"Yeah. How are we able to do it?" Nate asked.

"Well, we each have one pokémon out with us and we are only allowed to use that pokémon. We run around the forest until we find one of us. We battle and the loser has to go back here. If more than two people meet, then they all battle until one person wins. When it's sundown and there's no winner yet, than everyone still in meets up at the hidden glade in the forest and have a final showdown there." she explained.

"But how are we going to know who's in and out?" Ethan asked.

"Easy, I can make some transmitters and give them to everyone. That way, we'll keep track of who's in." Rald explained.

"And then the winner takes the transmitter of the loser and turns it off." Hilda added.

"So we start in different places?" Argent asked.

"Of course. We're not going to start in the same place." Ashley said. "And whosoever out will help keep track of who's in and the healing.

"Rald, how long do you think it's going to take you to make those?" I asked.

"About two hours." Rald said.

"Good, than that gives us enough time." Leaf said. "Let's meet up here in two hours where we'll have enough time to have the battle royale while also have a final showdown at sundown."

"So we'll have two hours of sunlight before we all have to meet up at the glade." Calem noted. "Sounds good to me."

"Than it's settled." Leaf clapped her hands. "We all meet here in two hours where Rald will pass out those transmitters. We'll go to our starting points and the game won't begin until we'll all there. Sounds good?"

"I have a question"' Calem raised his hand. "Who are we going to have to keep track during the beginning when no one's out?"

"Easy, Pika can do it." Ashley said. "She's able to work any electronic devices, trust me." she said before anyone could protest or ask how.

"Okay then, let's get ready." I said.

* * *

 **So some little notes. In this story, PKD will also means pokedollars which is the currency in this world. Go Goldeen is basically Go Fish. Looks like Calem finally knows; hmm, how will he react? Ashley has a birthmark? How will that fit into the story? Just wait and find out. When it is Argent/Silver's POV, he will always refer to Leaf/Blue as Nee-san since she is like his sister and he respect her. And the battle royale will be covered next chapter. I hope all of you like how I set it up.**

 **And I hope you enjoy this longer chapter. I think this is where I start to write about ten pages for each chapter on docs and that makes me so happy! You can make me even happier by leaving a nice review too!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	14. Battle

**Hello fellow readers and writers. So here's another surprise update, but only because I have a reason. After this, my updates would be as normal again. I have a family vacation so I wouldn't be able to update next week so I'm doing it this week. And I am completely free to do as much writing as I can until August. Summer work, completed!**

 **I just noticed that I haven't been updating my other stories as much lately. I'll get to that over my next few updates. Don't any of you worry about that! And I'm thinking of discontinuing Lighting the Dark since it's not as popular as my other stories and I have no ideas for it. I've started a second chapter for it, but when I'm done and put that one up, the story is discontinued. Sorry to anyone who fav/follow it. I have plenty of chapters for both Runaway life and ATiL, so they shouldn't really be a problem. TPTI is one of my favorite stories so far, but I'm having a bit of writer's block for that one, but I will have another chapter up for that next time. As for R &R, I have a ton if ideas for it. I should be able to write several chapters ahead of time.**

 **Whoa. That's a lot. And here's more. A little note fir this story; as I stated last chapter, PKD or pokedollars is the currency in this story and 100 PKD = 1 USD so a pokeball would cost 2 dollars in the states. Keep that in mind for the rest of the story. And as I said, the battle royale will happen in this chapter with a little surprise at the end. Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Aw. No reviews this time. Well, it's fine though. Now to the disclaimer!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Pokemon except for my OCs. And I don't own Spongebob Squarepants. You'll see later.`**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

 **Amber's POV**

"Is everyone in position?" Rald's voice crackled through the earpiece.

"Ready." everyone said, including me.

"Good luck, guys." Leaf's voice said.

"Pi, ka ,chu!" Pika's voice exclaimed, signaling the start time.

"Alright Dody, come on." I smiled down at my chosen partner.

"Dododo!" his three heads cried out as he began to run. I held on tight as he ran through the forest.

"I hope we won't be the first one out." I muttered to myself. I know I'm weak, but I want to get stronger. If I'm lucky, Ethan and Hilbert will run into each other and battle it out. They're both cocky and hot-headed do they would be one of the first one if I avoid running into someone.

"Ow!" Dody and I ran into an invisible wall. "Ouch! Who puts a wall up?" I complained as I rubbed my nose. "Are you okay, Dody?"

"Dododo." his three heads nodded.

"Great job, Mr Mime!" Rald jumped out of a bush.

"Mime, Mr Mime!" his Mr Mime stood next to him.

"Rald?!" I exclaimed.

"Ohh, sorry, Amber. I didn't know you ran into our trap." he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"It's fine, but since we ran into each other, we have to battle than." I smiled as I got off of Dody.

"Sounds good to me." Rald grinned as Mr Mime took a battle stance.

"Dody, Quick Attack!" I commanded.

"Dododo!" Dody run at Mr Mime with a white streak following him.

"Reflect!" Rald countered.

"Mime!" Mr Mime quickly moved his hands up and down and a invisible shield appeared around him.

"Jump over it!" I ordered Dody.

He obeyed and jumped high over the Reflect. He came crashing down into Mr Mime.

"Mr Mime!" Rald exclaimed.

"Good job, Dody!" I cheered for him.

"Dododo!" Dody seemed proud of himself.

"Not so fast! Mr Mime, Psychic!" Rald ordered.

"Mr Mime!" Mr Mime's eyes glowed blue and raised his hands. Dody was outlined in blue and was raised in the air.

"Now, throw him!" Rald commanded.

"Mr Mime!" Mr Mime circled his hands over his head while Dody was spun around in a circle. In a flick of Mr Mime's wrists, Dody was thrown into a tree.

"Dody!" I cried out.

"Do do dodrio." his three heads cried out while he had swirls in his eyes, indicating that he was fainted.

"Dody!" I cried out again as I ran towards him.

"Oops, I think I may have gone a bit overboard." Rald rubbed the back of his head.

"It's fine." I shook my head. "It's a battle royale after all." I said as I returned Dody.

"Your transmitter?" Rald held his sleeve out.

"I'll do it myself." I offered as I pulled out a beeping transmitter from my pocket. I turned a switch and the beeping and flashing yellow light turned off.

"Don't feel bad, Amber. You were able to get a really good hit in." Rald assured me.

"I know. I'll never as good as the rest of you guys." I smiled at him. "I should be going to the living room than. The others should be finishing their first battles anyways. Bye!"

* * *

 **Hilbert's POV**

"Brav! Use Brave Bird!"' I yelled.

"Brav!" Brav yelled as he flew high into the air. He dropped into a nosedive, tucked in his wings, and glowed blue. As he was nearing the ground, he turned red and snapped open his wings.

"Sau!" Samurott exclaimed as Brav flew into him.

"Not so fast, I don't care if you're the crush of my sister, you're going down!" Nate exclaimed. "Samurott, use Razor Shell!"

"Samurott!" Samurott stood on his hind legs and pulled out his seamiters as a blue blade grew out of each of them. He charged at Brav with them and slashed at him.

"Bra!" Brav cawed.

"Come on! I know you can push through!" I yelled to Brav.

"Bravary!" Brav got up and spread his wings.

"Now, Aerial Ace!" I called out.

"Brav!" Brav dug his talons into the ground and flew straight towards Samurott.

"Sam!" Samurott fell to the ground, fainted.

"Oh yeah! We won!" I danced around with Brav.

"Again, how is Hilda into him?" Nate sighed as he turned off his transmitter.

* * *

 **Hilda's POV**

"I don't know why, but I have a feeling that I need to kick Nate's butt." I mumbled to myself.

"Sis! Are we continuing our battle or not?!" Rosa yelled.

"Yes we are! Don't yell at me for spacing out for just a second!" I yelled at her.

"Well, I didn't have to yell at you if you just paid attention." Rosa huffed.

"You are so impatient sometimes. I wonder how you were able to infiltrate Team Plasma." I crossed my arms.

"Hey! I am able to take care of myself! I was able to take that stupid team down!" she yelled.

"Heah!" Leaf jumped down from a tree. "Ditty, use Thunder!"

"Dit!" Ditty turned into a Raichu and a very large Thunder electrocuted both Barbara and Chino-chan.

"Ah!" Rosa and I exclaimed.

"You girls better pay attention!" Leaf winked as she waved our transmitters in front of us. With a switch, she turned them off. "Bye~!" she waved before running back into the forest.

"Okay, I guess we did deserve that." I sighed as I returned Barbara as Rosa returned her Cinccino.

"We should really stop arguing sometimes." she grinned.

"Let's head back now." I suggested.

"Yeah!" Rosa ran next to me. "Hey, what were you talking about 'kicking Nate's butt'?"

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

"Rio, can you sense anyone?" I whispered to her.

 _Hmm, I think I'll let you do this one. It's easy._ she said.

"Okay." I closed my eyes. I sensed two auras in a tree about ten feet in front of me. "Heh, does he really think he can get away with this?" I grinned. "Rio, Aura Sphere!" I pointed towards the tree.

 _Now, you're getting the hang of this!_ Rio exclaimed as she charged one up in her paws. She released it at the tree.

"Ah!" Argent and his Weavile fell down from the tree. Luckily, they landed on their feet.

"As much as you can hide, Argent, you can't hide from _me._ " I grinned.

"I don't know how you were able to find me, but I guess it doesn't matter. We have to battle anyways." Argent grinned back. "Weavile, Night Shade!"

"Wea!" Weavile dashed at Rio with his claws glowing.

"Not so fast; Rio! Jump then use Aura Sphere!" I ordered.

 _Gotcha!_ Rio nodded. She jumped up to avoid Weavile's Night Shade and charged up another Aura Sphere in her paws and launched it at Weavile.

"Wea!" Weavile exclaimed as the Aura Sphere came in contact.

"Grr." Argent clenched his teeth together. "You're good, I have to admit that."

"Thanks." I said. "You're not bad yourself. But you're not good as me," I grinned. "Rio, Force Palm!"

 _I am not had that much training, but I'm just as good as the rest!_ she exclaimed as she dashed up towards Weavile.

"Vile?" Weavile was confused as Rio pushed her palm to Weavile's chest. Automatically, a large explosion appeared from Rio's palm, blowing Weavile back.

"Hmm, you may have a double type advantage over us, but that doesn't mean we're giving up." Argent smirked. "Quick Attack!"

"Rio, you use Quick Attack as well!" I yelled.

Both pokémon dashed at each other in a flash of light and a cloud of smoke appeared.

...

...

...

 _Click!_

"You're out."

* * *

 **Kristee's POV**

"Ugh, I can't believe Ethan chose me as his first victim." I complained to myself as I walked into the living room.

"Hi Kris, your battle lasted really long." Amber greeted me as I walked in.

"Thanks Amber, but it was my first battle and Ethan beat me." I said as I sat down on one of the couches.

"Hey, don't feel bad." Rosa said. "Hilda and I got out while we were arguing. Leaf just jumped in and beat both of us."

"Where's Hilda than?" I asked, looking around for her.

"Oh, while we were battling, she said something about 'kicking Nate's butt', so I assume that's what she's doing right now since Nate is also out." Rosa shrugged.

"At least you weren't the first one out. I was." Amber said sheepishly.

"Don't feel bad, Amber. We all know that battling isn't your strong suit." I assured her.

"I know." she smiled at me. A beeping sound came from the laptop in front of Pika and her. "Oh? It looks like Rald is out. How funny, he was the one to knock me out."

"Who's still in?"I asked.

"Um, Calem, Leaf, Ethan, Hilbert, Ashley, and Argent. Nevermind, Argent just got out. It looks like Ashley beat him; she was the closest to him." Amber reported.

"How much time is left?" Hilda asked as she dragged in a bruised Nate.

"Five minutes." Amber reported.

"Sis, what did you do to Nate?" Rosa asked.

"Just showed him what happened when he talks about me behind my back." Hilda dropped him to the floor.

"Kris, can you watch the laptop? I'll get a first-aid kit for Nate." Amber sighed as she stood up.

"Sure." I took the seat at the laptop. I looked at the screen and saw five different colored blinking lights far away from each other. "At this rate, we'll have a pretty heated final battle."

In the next three minutes, both Rald and Argent made their way to the living room. Nate was also patched up. For the most part.

"Time's up!" I announced as sundown was beginning. I spoke into the mouth piece. "Alright guys! That was a good two hours, but it's time of the final showdown. Meet up in the hidden glade in the forest where the winner will be decided!"

"Got it!" Leaf's, Calem's, Ashley's, Ethan's, and Hilbert's voices came through. I watched as their lights started towards the glade in the middle of the forest.

"Let's head to the glade. I want to watch this battle." Rosa said as she supported Nate.

"I agree." I said as I picked up the laptop.

"Let's head out." Argent said as he stood in the doorway.

* * *

 **Calem's POV**

"We can win this!" I said to Salamè as we flew towards the glade.

 _Com...we...this!_ I looked over to see a red and a yellow blurs running past us.

"They're faster than I thought." I smirked. "Let's beat them!"

"Char!"

The forest blurred past us as we approached the glade.

There was a reason why Red chose this island. It was like it magically appeared just for him and his reasons. But in the middle of the deepest part of the forest, there was a glade. But not a normal glade, a magical one.

The glade is hidden and can only be found by the people who lives on this island. The glade can change to the needs of the people going to it. And when I get there, I'm expecting a colosseum.

Salamè and I flew through an archway made of trees and entered a grand space. The trees made a wall surrounding the dirt clearing with and remaining sunlight lighting up the glade in a red light.

The others got here the same time as I did. I looked around and saw that the remaining trainers were Ashley, Leaf, Ethan, and Hilbert. I looked up and saw the others flying down on their pokémon.

"This should be a thrilling battle." Leaf commented as Ditty transformed into a Flaaffy next to her.

"When should we start this?" Ethan asked as he looked at Hilbert. At least I know that I won't have trouble with them at the beginning.

"Right...NOW!" Kristee announced.

"Rio, Aura Sphere!" Ashley ordered, pointing at Leaf and her Ditty.

"Jump and use Thunderbolt!" Leaf ordered. Ditty jumped up, dodging the Aura Sphere, and charged up a Thunderbolt aimed at Rio.

"Rio, Force Palm at Brav!" Ashley ordered. Rio ran up towards Brav, who was currently fighting Aibo, and pressed her palm at him.

"Bra?" Brav was surprised as Rio rushed up to him. When Rio's palm made contact with Brav's chest, an explosion occurred and Brav was blown backwards. As he was flying through the air, he went into the path of Ditty's Thunderbolt, shocking him.

"Brav!" Hilbert cried out as Brav fell down, fainted.

"Nice one, a little cruel, but still nice." Ethan commented as Aibo landed in front of him.

"Salamè, Flamethrower!" I ordered him as I pointed at Aibo.

"Aibo, use Swift!" Ethan ordered. Aibo used his tails and surrounded himself in a barrage of stars. When the Flamethrower hit the Swift, it was repelled. The star then launched themselves at Salamè.

"Don't count us out," I smirked. "Dragon Tail!"

"Zard!" Salamè shook off the Swift and flew towards Aibo with his tail glowing a light blue. He turned around and slammed his tail at Aibo.

"Ambi!" Aibo cried out as he fell to the ground, fainted.

"And then there were three." Leaf commented as she looked at Aibo's fainted form.

"Pay attention, Leaf. It's only you, me, and Calem left in this battle." Ashley grinned.

Suddenly, several boulders outlined in purple came crashing down in the middle of Ashley, Leaf, and I.

* * *

 **Leaf's POV**

"What's going on?!" I heard Hilda exclaim. When the dust from the boulders crashing down at us cleared, I saw Red was flying over us with his Aerodactyl, Aero, clutching onto his shoulders. His cap was shadowing his eyes.

"Hey-!" I glared at Calem who quickly shut his mouth. I looked towards Ashley and saw that her bangs covering her eyes. She returned her Rio and I pulled Calem towards where everyone else was standing at the sides.

At the same time, Red and Ashley threw out a pokeball. Red's Blastoise popped out at the same time Ashley's Tor did.

Calem, Ethan, and Hilbert tried running towards them, but I stopped them.

"Don't interrupt them. It's a family matter." I hissed at them. They quickly backed away.

I looked back at Ashley and Red. They weren't saying a word, but their pokémon were wrestling with each other. Blastoise was pushing Tor back, but Tor step to the side and let go of Blastoise, causing him to fall forward.

Seeing this as his chance, Tor backed up and came crashing into Blastoise with a Zen Headbutt. Blastoise was pushed back, but caught Tor. He spun Tor around until he threw him. Tor landed in a cloud of dust before getting up again.

Blastoise opened up his arms and a light blue glowing orb was there. While Tor was busy getting back on his feet, Blastoise fired the Focus Blast. Tor didn't noticed the Focus Blast and was blasted off his feet again. But Tor was able to get back up.

Tor opened up his mouth and a light blue orb appeared in it. He fired an Ice Beam in Blastoise's direction before freezing him solid. Tor backed up and the top of his head glowed blue again. He rammed into a frozen Blastoise with a Zen Headbutt, breaking the ice and pushing Blastoise back.

Tor backed up a few feet as Blastoise got back on his feet. Both pokémon set their cannons and glowed a blue aura.

"Torrent." I heard Argent whisper. "And Hydro Cannon."

Both pokémon had two orbs appear at the ends of their cannons and a large glowing blue stream of water was blasted at each other.

A thin layer of mist was sprayed on us, but when the mist cleared, both Blastoise and Tor were fainted.

Red and Ashley returned their pokémon and each threw another pokeball out at the same time without saying a word.

This time, Red's Venusaur and Ashley's Saur were against each other. Saur stomped his feet on the ground and an Earthquake appeared. Venusaur stumbled a bit and fell to his knees.

Using this opening, Saur's leaves and flower on his back rustled and several razor sharp petals flew towards Venusaur. Venusaur winced under the pelting petals, but scattered a blue powder towards Saur.

Saur saw this and using the last remaining rays of sunlight, charged up a Solar Beam. Before the Sleep Powder could reach him, Saur released the Solar Beam. In retaliation, Venusaur fired a Sludge Bomb at Saur. The two attacks collided and an explosion filled the glade.

I covered my face with my arm and when the smoke cleared, Venusaur was struggling to stand while Saur seemed fine. Suddenly, Venusaur glowed green and stomped his front legs into the ground and several large glowing green vines broke through the ground. Saur was surprised as the vines crawled up, grabbed him, and hauled him into the air.

"Overgrow." I heard Kristee mutter. "And Frenzy Plant."

Venusaur used a Giga Drain on Saur and regained some of his energy. The Frenzy Plant dropped Saur to the ground and retracted back into the earth. Saur got up to his feet and his flower rustled again while was glowing green.

Venusaur's flower glowed purple as a sickly purple orb appeared in the middle of it. He launched the Sludge Bomb at the same time Saur launched his Petal Dance. When the two attacks collided, a cloud of smoke appeared. When it cleared, both pokémon were fainted.

Red and Ashley returned their fainted pokémon and threw out another pokeball. Char and Charizard stared each other down as they appeared.

Both Charizard took to the air and stopped about 250 feet above us. Charizard spun around and a light blue orb of air appeared in front of him before launching it while Char flapped his wings and several blades of air flew towards Charizard. When the Air Slash and Air Cutter met, a burst of air can be felt all the way down here.

Both Charizard was unaffected though. They both hovered right where they were. They both opened up their mouths and a royal blue glow appeared. Several rings of dragon energy was fired at each other before colliding. An explosion occurred and we couldn't see anything until it cleared up.

When it did clear, it looked like both pokémon got scratches on them from their Dragon Pulse. Charizard was suddenly surrounded in flames and charged at Char like a missile. Char opened up his mouth and fired a Flamethrower at Charizard. When the Flamethrower made contact, the Flare Blitz turned blue. Char used Flamethrower even more until Charizard rammed into him.

Char was pushed back a bit, but caught Charizard's horns. Spinning around, Char threw Charizard back into the sky. Charizard righted himself and glared at Char. Charizard was then covered in red sparks as he took recoil damage from the Flare Blitz.

Both Charizard glowed a blazing red as a red fire was building up in their mouths.

"Blaze." I heard Ethan mumble. "And Blast Burn."

Both Charizard opened up their mouths and unleashed the glowing red streams of fire. The Blast Burn collided and a cloud of smoke appeared. Two orange blurs fell through the cloud of smoke and landed on the ground. Both Charizard fainted.

Ashley and Red said nothing as they returned their fainted pokémon and stood still. A flash of light on Red's belt appeared on the field as his Pikachu materialized. Pika hopped from Amber's arms and onto the field, her cheeks were sparking all the time.

I looked between the two Pikachu as Pika was glaring at Pikachu. It felt like the tension between Ashley and Red right now. Father and daughter, going against each other.

Pika broke out a run as a white light followed her. Pikachu broke out a Quick Attack as well and soon, it became a race of who can tackle the other first. Pikachu took a shot and tried to tackle Pika, but Pika quickly moved out of the way and Pikachu ended up on the ground. Pika took the chance and rammed into Pikachu.

Pika jumped out of the way right after she tackled into Pikachu. Good thing too, since Pikachu had an Iron Tail ready for her. As he swung, Pika jumped up and her tail glowed a metallic white as she spun like a drill. She dove in and hit Pikachu in the side with it.

Pikachu was pushed back, but came right back with a Quick Attack, hitting Pika before she could realize it. Pika was thrown back and Pikachu hit her with his glowing grey metallic tail before she could recover.

Pikachu landed on all fours as Pika landed on the field Pika struggled to get up, but she did get up. Pikachu launched a Thunderbolt at Pika, but Pika had an Iron Tail ready and stuck it in the ground. The Thunderbolt hit Pika, but the electricity went into the ground.

Pika used her tail as a springboard and jumped in the air. She spun into a ball and rolled towards Pikachu with a Iron Tail in front. Pikachu pushed back the improvised Iron Tail/Rollout with his own Iron Tail.

Pika jumped back into the air and launched a small Thunderbolt at Pikachu who took the attack head on. As Pika landed on all fours, both Pikachu began charging up electricity.

"Volt Tackle." I heard Amber gasp.

Both Pikachu dashed towards each other as they glowed yellow. Electricity surrounded them as the Volt Tackle got bigger and bigger. When both attacks collided, a cloud of smoke and electricity appeared. I felt the electricity in the air increase as the cloud of smoke cleared. I looked at the Pikachu and saw that they were both fainted.

Red and Ashley threw another pokeball out and an Eevee and Rio appeared. Vee, the Eevee, pushed Pikachu to the side with us as Rio did the same with Pika. Amber picked up both Pikachu and used her healing powers.

With their task done, Vee and Rio returned to the field. They glared at each other before Vee evolved into a Flareon and used Flamethrower. Rio charged up an Aura Sphere in her paws and launched it at the Flamethrower. The Flamethrower was split before heading towards Vee.

Vee then turned into a Vaporeon and used Acid Armor to avoid the Aura Sphere. Rio was taken back a bit, but regained her glare.

Vee turned into a Jolteon and used Pin Missile. Rio dodged each one and used Aura Sphere again. Vee turned into Vaporeon and used Acid Armor again. While a puddle, Vee slid towards Rio before regaining her physical form and using Ice Fang.

Rio winced as Vee bit her arm, but used Force Palm to get him off. Vee was blown a few feet back, but he turned into Flareon and jumped at Rio with a Fire Fang.

Rio used Force Palm again and blasted Vee off. Rio fired an Aura Sphere at Vee before he could transformed again. But it was too late, Vee already turned into a Jolteon and used Thunder Fang. He bit through the Aura Sphere and headed right towards Rio. Vee dug his fangs in as Rio growled, trying to shake him off.

Finally, Rio used Force Palm to get him off and launched several rapid fire Aura Spheres. Not seeing the multiple attacks coming, Vee got pelted with each one. Using this as a chance, Rio ran up towards Vee with a glowing palm.

Vee was surprised as Rio pressed her palm on the Jolteon's chest. An explosion occurred and a cloud of smoke was kicked up. When it cleared, Vee turned back into an Eevee since he was fainted while Rio was standing over him.

Ashley returned Rio as Red returned his pokémon. After he did, I think I saw a smile on his face. But Ashley was still emotionless and walked away with saying a word. Pika jumped out of Amber's arms and followed her.

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

I walked towards a small lake on the other side of the forest. I sat down at the edge of it as Pika jumped into my lap. I stoked her fur softly and just stared at my reflection.

I felt an aura behind me and I knew exactly who it was.

"You went easy on me." I said, monotone. "You didn't even use Aero. If you wanted a battle, you could've made it a real one." I said before standing up. I walked past my father, not making eye contact with him, and towards the house.

When I entered the living room, I saw that everyone was waiting there.

"Ashley? Are you okay?" Amber asked.

I raised my head and placed a fake smile on. "Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Leaf asked.

"Definitely." I nodded. "I'm going up to my room to rest a bit." I said as I walked towards the elevator. I pressed the button and waited. When the door opened, I got in and pressed the button for the girls' floor. But before the door closed, a hand stopped it. I stared as Calem got in as well. The door closed and he pressed the emergency button, stopping the elevator.

"What are you doing?" I glared at him. He better not try anything. I am not in the mood.

"Tell me what's going on with you. Now." he pushed my shoulders back against the walls gently.

"I can't." I looked away from him.

"Why?" he asked gently.

"It's a family matter." I answered.

"We're your family now too. If you have anything on your mind, you can always tell us. It's not just you anymore." he said. My eyes widen at his last sentence. Was that how I've been acting?

"Okay." I turned towards him. "It's my father. That battle, it wasn't real."

"How wasn't it real? It seemed tense to me." Calem said.

"But it wasn't at his fullest. I know he wanted to see if I can protect myself by battling me, but he went easy on me." I explained. "His pokémon may be old, but they could've easily knocked out my pokémon."

"And you're upset by that?" Calem asked.

"Of course I am!" I felt tears well up. "He still thinks of me as that five year old who needed someone to protect her! I want to show him that I can take care of myself. I can and my pokémon can. I know it was hard for them to go up against their own fathers, but they did it anyways."

"But both of you didn't say anything." Calem said.

"I didn't need to. I had a deep connection with my pokémon for them to know what I want them to do and for me to know what they're going to do. But for him, it's different." I said as I looked away. "He didn't need to say anything because they already know what to do. How to counter every move and how to give the most damage. I was just lucky that Rio won against Vee."

"But you still win though." Calem grabbed my chin and made me face him.

"I know I did, but in a real battle, with all of his pokémon at full power, we wouldn't stand a chance." I looked down.

"I've seen you battle. You are good. You may even be better than your father." Calem pushed my chin back up to face him "I know that you could beat his pokémon with their own children. His Vee will be easily beaten by Rio and his Aero will go down easily."

"Stop it." I said quietly.

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Stop telling me lies!" I cried as tears rolled down my face.

"They're not lies!" he exclaimed.

"Yes they are! I'll never live up to the expectations of my father! He'll still sees me as a little girl!" I cried.

"He may, but I won't." my eye snapped opened as I felt something on my lips. I stared as Calem kept kissing me. I finally closed my eyes and let it happen.

He hands moved from my shoulders to my waist. He pulled me closer to him as he deepened the kiss. He pulled back after a minute. I stared at him as he panted while staring at me.

"Sorry, I was just-"

"Don't." I cut him off. "You're the first one who actually sees me that way."

"What?" he was confused.

"People usually sees me as the daughter of some kind of Champion, and they expect me to be like them. But I know that I can never be. As much as I can get better, my father is always better and he sees me as a little girl who is just lost in the world and knows nothing. A delicate flower whose needs protection."

"But you're different." I looked right in Calem's eyes. "The first time we met, you didn't act differently even though my face was plastered all over the city. You treated me like you would with any other girl. You didn't give me special treatment just because I'm the daughter of the man who gave you a new life. And I like you for that."

"You may be a little perverted, but you still treat me as an equal. And as long as you keep treating me as an equal, I don't mind if you keep acting like a pervert towards me." I smiled at him.

"You're a weird girl." Calem smiled at me.

"I know." I said I reached over and pressed the elevator button. The elevator jerked as it started again.

"You should really not let anyone see you cry." Calem said as he wiped my leftover tears away.

"Thanks." I said as I let his fingers brush against my cheeks. The elevator doors opened and I slipped out of Calem's hold. "Bye." I smiled at him before the elevator doors closed.

I went to my door and opened it. I closed it as I blushed at the thought of Calem kissing me.

"Pikachu?"

Shit, I forgot Pika was there the entire time.

 _Pop!_

 _So, when are you guys getting married?_

"Can't the both of you stay out of my love life?!"

* * *

 **Seems like two little pokemon are influenced by Blue. Hehe. And who didn't see that little moment coming? I totally imagined a sparkling background while Ashley was telling Calem that. *sigh* I must be watching and reading a lot of anime and manga.**

 **Sorry if the battle scene was a bit boring. That was one of my writer's block moments. Please pardon the cliche outcome. And remember, Ashley won all of the leagues with only her four original pokemon. So it would make sense they are on par with Red's. Rio was a long shot, but there was a bit of a type advantage there. Sometimes. As for Vee, for now I only have him be able to evolve in the three elemental eeveeloutions, but I'm not sure about Espeon, Umbreon, or Slyveon. Leafeon and Glaceon is still a bit iffy for me, but I can't decided yet.**

 **I based the moveset of Red's pokemon from the games,but Vee from the manga where he haven't evolved into an Espeon.**

 **Okay I'm done now!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	15. Shop Til You Drop

**BEFORE ANY OF YOU GO ANY FARTHER, STOP AND READY THIS MESSAGE! I'M SERIOUS!**

 **Okay, so I know my Author's Notes are long, but if you just take the time to read them, they can answer any and I mean ANY questions you may have about the chapter. THEY ARE IMPORTANT. DO NOT SKIP THEM! And I am done.**

 **To the reviews!**

 **TheCrazyClan: Aw thank you! They are really cute together, right?**

 **Redstar02(Guest): Listen, I wrote these early chapters a long time ago when I was first starting out so they might not be the best they can be. And as I said before, please read the A/N's, they will explain things out int eh chapters. I try not to make everyone sound the same, but I haven't really read most of the manga so I don't have much information of their true personalities down, just whatever I read off of Bulbapedia. Trust me, their relationship is going slow. I'm not rushing anything since I want the plot to be nicely explained. And as for Blue, I actually find her to be a bit easier to write since she has such a true motivator and she's my favorite out of all the dexholders in terms of the manga.**

 **So, I know all of you have been waiting patiently for this new chapter to go up and this will be my last update until school starts for me. Yeah, I'm starting this week and I already know that I will have a minimum of two tests in it. That's my life. Not to mention tennis games all week right after school.**

 **Enough with me talking, enjoy the story! After the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. At all. That's right. I don't. Except for my OCs of course.**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

 **Kristee's POV**

"All I'm saying is, you could've not placed that Ekans in your cousin's room." I said as I walked with Ethan and Argent down to Ashley's room.

"Yeah, but you could've heard that girly scream all the way in Johto." he snickered.

"Except for the fact that Leaf and Hilda had to come to quiet that scream." I retorted.

"Still funny. They were so terrified." Ethan laughed.

"It was Rald." Argent glared at him.

"I know! That was what made it funny!" Ethan fell to the floor, laughing.

"Still not cool though." I rolled my eyes at him. Argent had to slap a piece of duct tape over Ethan's mouth and drag him all the way to Ashley's door.

"Why didn't they just come down when Red texted us?" Argent asked.

"I don't know, but we have to get them now." I sighed as I raised my hand to knock.

As I was about to, I heard some voices coming from inside.

"No, you're in the wrong place." I heard Ashley said.

"Really?" it was Calem's voice. I heard a bed squeak. "What about here then?"

"It should be lower."

"Here?"

"Not quite. Let me show you." more rustling from the bed.

I turned to look at Argent and Ethan who had the same wide-eyed look as I did.

"Oh, here?" Calem asked.

"Yep."

"So keep going like this?"

"Yes. Perfect." the sound of the bed moving got more constant.

Okay, that was enough for me. I had to see what was going on. At the same time, Ethan, Argent and I grabbed the doorknob and opened it.

We fell to the floor as the door opened.

"Oh? What are you guys doing here?" I looked up and saw Ashley standing next to her bed.

"Um," we blinked once. Twice.

"Finished." Calem crawled off her bed.

"Thanks, Calem." Ashley smiled at him. "You're a big help."

"What were you guys doing in here?" I asked.

"Calem was just putting up a picture frame for me." Ashley answered.

"What?" Argent asked.

"I found an old picture of my pokémon and I with our league trophies when Calem walked past and offered to hang it up for me, so I said yes." she explained.

"But what about those directions we heard from outside?" I asked as we stood up.

"I was just asking her where to hang it up. She wanted it above her bed." Calem pointed to the picture frame above the headboard. "I wasn't sure where exactly where upon her bed she wanted it so I kept on having to asked her. And to make sure my fingers and thumb weren't all red when I was finished. I guess the walls were also so thick you couldn't hear me banging the hammer."

"So everything we heard was just you guys hanging up a picture?" I asked.

"Yeah. What did you guys think we were doing?" Ashley asked.

Ethan finally got the duct tape off his mouth and opened his mouth to say something, but I quickly covered it with my hand. "Nothing! We were just curious!" I said quickly.

"Oh, okay." Calem said. "What are you guys even doing in her room?"

"Red sent us a text to meet him downstairs, didn't you guys get it?" Argent asked.

"Calem was banging the hammer so loud, I guess I didn't hear my pokégear go off." Ashley said as she walked over to pick up her pokégear from her desk. "Thanks for telling us. We'll meet you downstairs."

"Why not go down together? Red did send us up here to get you guys."I said as I felt Ethan going limp in my grip. I quickly let go of him and he fell to the floor.

"Okay. Just wait." Ashley said. She walked over to the bathroom. "Pika! Rio! Get your butts out here!"

"Ri! Riolu!" Rio shouted.

"I don't know what they're doing in there, but I don't wait to find out." Ashley huffed.

Rio and Pika walked out of the bathroom with a _different_ appearance. Pika was wearing a pink sparkling tutu with a pink bow on one of her ears while Rio was wearing a small tiara and a royal blue princess dress.

"Forget it, I'm leaving them here." Ashley sighed as she walked out of the room.

"I just don't know what that was." Ethan said as everyone else walked out of the room.

"I don't know what to say about it." I shook my head as we got in the elevator.

"I just left them in the bathroom with my makeup for five minutes while Calem was putting up the picture, and then that was what they came out with!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Your pokémon are weird." Calem stated.

"I know." she sighed.

The elevator stopped at the ground floor and we got off. We walked to the living room where everyone else was waiting. When Ashley met her father's eyes, things suddenly became tense. Yeah, they haven't really talk much ever since their battle two weeks ago.

"I'm glad that we have everybody here right now. And I hope we are all okay?" Red looked at Rald who was curled up on a couch between Hilbert and Nate.

"He'll be fine after a few minutes." Amber reassured us. "I think."

"Nonetheless, we have a new mission to complete." Red said.

"Really? What's it about?" Leaf asked.

"Actually, this is a mission for the boys only." Red nodded to the boys who were all sitting on one side. Hilbert, Rald, and Nate were on a couch while Calem, Argent, and Ethan were standing behind them.

"What?!" Leaf exclaimed. I had to cover my ear since she yelled right in it. Hilda, Rosa, and I were sitting on the opposite side of the room on a couch while Leaf, Amber, and Ashley stood behind us.

"Yes, and this is a rather long mission." Red nodded. "Because of that, you girls will have new partners until the mission is complete and the boys come back."

"New partners?" we all asked.

"Yes." Red nodded. "Leaf and Amber, Hilda and Rosa, and Kristee and Ashley."

"Seems good to me." Hilda said as she looked next to her sister. I looked up at Ashley directly behind me while Leaf looked to Amber next to her.

"For the mission rundown, I only need the boys here. You girls can leave. Out of the house, preferably." Red added.

"What are we supposed to do than?" Rosa asked.

"I knew you would ask that." he sighed. He threw six somethings at us. I quickly caught it in my hands and saw that it was a card. It looked like a credit card with a light blue metallic color.

"Those are debit cards which I preloaded with 100000 PKD for each of you." Red explained. "All of you can go stopping until the end of today."

"Thanks Red!" Leaf exclaimed before she dragged all of us into the elevator.

"You really like shopping, don't you?" Ashley asked as she placed her red metallic card in her bag.

"You just realized that?" Hilda and Rosa asked as they placed their shiny white cards in her pockets.

"I just wish she would spend her money carefully." Amber sighed as she tucked her shiny yellow card in her pocket.

"I can!" Leaf exclaimed as she waved her metallic blue card at us.

"Whatever. We still need to get our stuff from our rooms. Let's meet up on the roof as soon as we can." I said as the elevator reached the girls' floor. They nodded and went to their separate rooms.

I walked to my light blue reflective door and opened it to the room. I walked over to the white curtains and pulled them over the balcony door as I ran my hand over my crystal blue walls. My light blue carpet was rustling under my feet as I picked up my bag with everything in there and my belt with my pokeballs attached.

I went out of my room and locked the door. I looked over to see Ashley coming out of her room with Pika, without the tutu, on her shoulder.

"You ready?"I walked over to her as she was locking her door.

"Yep." she nodded. "While we were downstairs, Char got Rio and Pika out of their costumes."

"Why were they even in those dresses?" I asked as we walked down the elevator.

"I don't know. It's not like we can understand pokémon." she shrugged.

"You guys are also ready?" Hilda asked as we approached the elevator. Both her and Rosa was waiting for the elevator.

"Yeah. You guys got ready fast." I commented.

"I think Leaf beat us to it though. When I got out, I saw her drag Amber into the elevator." Rosa sweatdropped.

"Wow. I wonder what that girl can do when she's late for a date?" Ashley joked.

"What date? None of us dated has dated for as long as we arrived here." I pointed out as we stepped into the elevator.

"Really? Why?" Ashley asked as she pressed the button for the floor below the roof.

"Have you met the boys? They're not actually attractive." Hilda explained.

"Than what's Hilbert?" Rosa smirked.

"Stay out of my love life!" Hilda yelled at her sister.

"Oh? So you do love him?" Rosa snickered.

"Why you-!" I could see Hilda fought the urge to choke her.

"Rosa, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to poke the beast." I sweatdropped as Ashley and I stood to the other side of the elevator.

"Pika, do you think-?" Ashley looked at her pokémon.

"No need, I'm fine now." Hilda topped her as she took a deep breath.

"Are you sure?" I asked as the elevator doors opened up.

"Yep, just needed a moment to collect myself." Hilda took another deep breath.

Rosa, Ashley, and I sweatdropped as we walked up the stairs to the roof. We opened the door and a gust of wind met us.

"About time you girls got here!" Leaf exclaimed as she had Ditty next to her. Amber had Kitty already holding her.

"Sorry, but some of us aren't shopaholics." I said as I let Xatee out.

"But we still need to figure out where we're going." Leaf countered.

"What about Mauville City? I heard that they renovated the whole city so it's like a giant shopping outlet." Ashley suggested as she let Char out.

"Sounds good to me." Hilda nodded as Barbara appeared next to her.

"Than Mauville it is!" Leaf exclaimed as Ditty transformed into a Swellow.

"Leaf, try not to buy everything you see. Even though Red gave us 100000 PKD each, it doesn't mean we can spend it all." Amber said as the rest of us boarded our pokémon, or in Rosa's case, her sister's pokémon, and in my case, had Xatee grasped my shoulders with her talons.

"I know that! We just went on a shopping trip a few weeks ago so I have all the latest clothes I need!" she said. The pokémon rose into the air and took off towards Hoenn.

A static sound came in my ear.

"Good thing Rald modified these earpieces." Leaf's voice came through.

"Yeah. Now we can talk to each other without straining our voices." Ashley pointed out.

"Plus it's comfortable." I pushed a button on the earpiece so they can all hear me.

"You all have it set to a separate channel, right?" Amber asked. "Since the boys are on a new mission, we have to use a different channel than them for now."

"If not, we can just turn it off." Hilda added.

"I'm just happy Red hasn't noticed so far. Rald made these so small and lifeproof, we can wear them all the time and nobody will notice." Rosa noted.

I turned my earpiece off so I won't hear the others talk. I love them as sisters, but they can be very chatty sometimes. Even Amber. Don't take her quiet first look fool you, she can actually be a regular normal girl.

It's still July so we won't be needing that winter clothes Nate and Rosa brought for a while, but it was good to stock up first. And Ethan's birthday is coming up next week. I'm going to see if I can get him anything while I'm at the outlet. He likes playing video games. Maybe I'll get him one of those. Even though he's turning 15 this year, it does not mean he will ever grow up.

And then Argent's 15th birthday is on December 24th which is the day before Christmas. Are we doing that Secret Santa thing again this year? If we each got everyone presents, than we would have a major problem hiding it from everyone else. And then there's Ashley who joined this year, so that's one more person. Not that I love having her here or anything! She's fun to be around and she fits in with everyone!

But she has been different ever since her battle with her dad two weeks ago. Although, she has been warming up to Calem ever since then. What happened between them when he went after her? Agh, I'm thinking like Ethan now. I've been hanging around him too much.

"EARTH TO KRIS!"

"Wah!" Xatee and I tumbled in the air as Leaf appeared next to us and shouted in my ear.

"What the hell was that for?!" I shouted back at her.

"You weren't responding when we were calling you!" Leaf huffed.

"I was lost in thought!" I defended. "It wasn't necessary for you to blast my eardrum."

"Than turn on your earpiece." Leaf retorted.

"We're almost there. We can turn them off." Ashley shouted over the wind. She pointed down to a very, very, very large building.

"That's Mauville?!" Hilda exclaimed.

"Yeah. I told you they renovated it into a shopping outlet." Ashley nodded as Char descended.

We followed her and landed on the roof. There were four satellites scattered around the rooftop.

"Mauville has really changed." Amber stared in awe at the large complex she was standing on.

"When was the last time you guys been here?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know." Rosa shrugged. "About two years. There's not much we need from Mauville."

"When I first came here, it was a normal city." Ashley explained. "But last year when I came back, I found out that Wattson turned the city into a shopping complex. The top floors are the residents and the lower floors are the shops and food court. He has a dome that opens up to let in sunlight."

Below us, a loud rumble was heard and the roof started to move.

"Which is opening right now! Move!" Leaf exclaimed. We all got our pokémon to fly us into the air as the roof below us retracted back into the sides to reveal the large building to actually be a square combined with an '+' in the middle. In the middle of the plus sign was a small court area where people could rest.

"Wow!" Hilda gasped. My jaw dropped, this was nothing like the Mauville I remembered. It's so high tech!

"Let's head down!" Ashley exclaimed as Char flew down. We followed them and landed in front of a crowd of startled people.

"Yeah, it's always a bit hard to land here." Ashley rubbed the back of her head as we returned our pokémon. "It's so busy all the time so people are everywhere.

"What kind of shops are here?" Amber asked.

"Hmm," Ashley thought about it. "There's pretty much all the different shops you can think of. "There's a contest hall here that they just added and a food court."

"Why don't we split up?" Leaf suggested. "We split up in pairs, or our new partners, so we can get to know and work with each more."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded.

"Us too." the others nodded.

"Okay. It's settled." Leaf nodded. "Right now, it's noon, so we'll meet up at the food court at six."

"Okay." we nodded. Hilda and Rosa went off while Leaf dragged Amber off somewhere.

"Where do you want to go?" Ashley asked me.

"I was thinking of buying Ethan a present for his birthday next week. Do you know where a videogame store is?"I asked her.

"His birthday is next week? I didn't know that." she said sheepishly.

"We didn't tell you our birthdays so it's okay." I assured her. "When you joined Leaf's birthday was just two days before that!"

"So it was June 1st? I'll have to remember that for next year."

"Don't worry, I'll tell you everyone's birthday when we get back to the house. Let's just get Ethan a present first." I said.

"Okay." she nodded. "The store is this way." she led me through the crowd to some stores with high-priced looking products in the windows.

"Did you remember to give the others a map?" I asked Ashley.

"There's maps posted all over the city so they won't get lost." Ashley assured me. "Even the pokémon will know where to go!"

"Pi!" Pika nodded.

"Here we are!" Ashley stopped in front of a videogame store with hundreds of games visible through the window. "They have every single game ever made." she said as she led me inside.

When we walked inside, there were several Super Nerds and Collectors who immediately stared at us.

"Girls." they gasped.

"Um, I feel uncomfortable." I whispered to Ashley.

"I never been in this store before, but I never knew there would this many geeks in here." she whispered back.

"Alright guys!" two girls stood in front of us. "Yes there's girls in this store, but you all seen them before!" a brunette girl in a school uniform shouted.

"Just go back to your business and stop staring at these poor girls!" a purple haired girl with glasses shouted. When she did, all of the boys turned back to their video games.

"Err..." Ashley and I sweatdropped.

"Sorry about that." the two girls turned back to us and bowed down in apology.

"I'm Rebecca. I'm the manager here and the usual customers here aren't used to seeing girls walk through the door that often." the purple haired girl explained.

"I'm Giselle. I'm the assistant manger." the brunette introduced herself. "I'm actually an intern here, but I was so good, I got bumped up to assistant manager."

"Oh, I'm Ashley and this is Kristee." Ashley introduced us.

"Do you want to go the back? There's a lot less boys there if they're creeping you out." Rebecca offered.

"Thanks. That would be nice." I nodded.

"There's more games back there too if you're looking for any." Giselle added as they led us past the stalking boys.

"Yeah, we are." I nodded again as we walked into a storage room.

"Well what are you looking for?" Rebecca asked.

"What would you recommend for a 15 year old pervert?" I asked. They both looked at me in confusion.

"It's for a birthday present for a friend of ours." Ashley explained.

"Oh, that makes sense." Giselle said. "Let's see, what about 'Grand Master Battle XX'?"

"They've been making those games for that long?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. It's a pretty long game series. But it has a huge fan base." Rebecca explained. "I'll go get someone to look for a collector's copy."

"No, that's not necessary!" I exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it. It's going to be discounted since our customers scared you guys." Giselle told us.

"So there's more workers here?" Ashley asked.

"There are." Giselle nodded. "But they all girls and they work in the back since the male customers scare them."

"I know how they feel." I joked.

"Whenever we get female customers, we bring them back here so the males won't scare them off." Giselle explained.

"Here we are!" Rebecca came back with a videogame box in her hand. "It's for the WiiU, is that okay?"

"It's perfect."I nodded.

"Great! I'll ring you up than." Rebecca led us to a cash register they had in the back.

"So, is this for a boyfriend of yours?" Giselle asked me.

"What?! No! He's just a friend!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, right." she raised a brow.

"It's true!" I exclaimed.

"Giselle, stop teasing the customers." Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Just because you don't have a boyfriend after that boy went gaga over you doesn't mean you can tease every girl on their lovelife."

"Is it my fault that I choose to interfere with girl's love life while dating a boy of my own?" she asked innocently.

"You have another boyfriend?" Rebecca raised a brow.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"You're impossible." Rebecca sighed. "How are you paying?" she asked me.

"Debit." I pulled out my card.

"Swept it here and then confirm the amount." Rebecca handed me a small screen. I swept my card across the light on top and tapped the 'yes' button for 3500 PKD. I placed my card away after I did.

"Thanks for the game." I thanked them as Rebecca handed me the bag with the game in it.

"No problem. You can exit through that door there." Giselle pointed to a door with a red 'Exit' sign over it.

Ashley and I waved to the two as we went through the door. When we did, we ended up at a small street the side of the store led to.

"Where next?" Ashley asked.

"Why not spoil ourselves?" I suggested.

* * *

 **Leaf's POV**

"Leaf? Are you sure about this?" Amber asked as she stood in a changing room.

"Yes! Are you ready?" I asked her.

"Yes, but-" before she could finish, I pulled the curtain aside. "Eek!"

"Aww!" I squealed. "Amber! You look so cute in that!"

Amber was wearing a light blue sundress with white leggings and brown wedges. Her blond hair was let down for once in her life and some pieces of it framed her face.

"Leaf, I'm not sure if this is really me." Amber mumbled as she blushed.

"Amber, you have been wearing that same old black turtleneck and yellow tunic vest thingy style ever since I've met you. It's time to freshen up your look." I told her.

"I do wear other things every once in awhile." Amber countered.

"Your hat doesn't count, sweetie. It makes you look like a boy." I retorted.

"But my clothes are comfortable. I like them." Amber pouted.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "If you like them that much, you can keep wearing them. But for special occasions or if we're going out with the gang, you have to wear something different." I can't just change my best friend, it has to happen slowly without her knowing. I mean, that is what a best friend do afterall!

"Deal." she nodded.

"Go get change and than we can go buy all of this." I ordered.

"Okay." Amber said as she drew the curtains closed.

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

"Geez Kris, I didn't know you could buy this much." I sweatdropped as we walked out of the bookstore.

"I don't get a lot of time to relax. When I do, it's at the house where I'm surrounded by my books." Kristee explained as she carried ten books in her arms.

"At least we got to go to other places today as well." I said as I examined my nails. Kristee and I went to get our nails done before we went anywhere else.

"I've almost been meaning to get some new clothes for me. I need something new in my closet." Kristee smiled. Our arms were full with about ten or so bags on each of them.

After we went to get Ethan's present, we went to the nail salon since what girl doesn't like to get a pedicure and a manicure? Then we went to a couple of boutiques where we got some new clothes for each of us. We went to the PokéMart soon after that since both of us were actually running low on travel supplies. And that led us to the bookstore where we spent like an hour or two since Kristee brought so many books for her room, I mean library at the house.

"Shit, I forgot my pokégear back at the bookstore." Kristee swore as she looked inside her bag. "Can you go ahead to the food court and tell the others that I'll be there soon?"

"Sure." I nodded.

"Can you also take these with you? I can't pick up my pokégear with my arms full." Kristee asked.

"No problem."I answered as I took the books from her.

"Thanks. This will only a take a little bit of time. I'll meet you guys there soon!" Kristee exclaimed as she ran back to the bookstore.

"Well, Pika, let's meet up with the others. They should be there. It's almost six." I said as I looked up at the sky while I walked.

"Pika pi." Pika said as she sat on my shoulder with bags of her own. Don't ask why they had a pokémon department where they can just go in and buy things of their own while their trainer shopped.

 _Ring!_

"Hello?" I picked up my pokégear.

"Ashley! Where are you?!" Leaf yelled on the the line.

"I"m heading towards the food court right now. Kris is going to be a little late since she had to get something she forget." I told her.

"Well hurry up!" Leaf exclaimed before hanging up.

I sighed. "Come on Pika!" I exclaimed before starting to walked the fast I can.

"Watch out!"

"Ah!"

"Ow!" I rubbed my butt. "Shit! The books!" I exclaimed as I spotted the books Kristee gave me scattered across the pavement.

"Let me help you with that." a male voice said, who I assume to be the idiot who ran into me.

"Thanks!" I said quickly as I picked up the books. "Thanks for your help!" I told whoever that was as we got all of them. I ran past him without even getting a good look at his face.

* * *

 **Hilda's POV**

"Was that Ashley?" Rosa asked as a blonde in red and black ran past a boy with black hair, a red and white cap, and a Pikachu on his shoulder after he helped her pick up some books.

 _Ring!_

"Can't she give it a break?" I sighed. "What now Leaf?" I picked up my Xtransceiver.

"Where are- who's that boy?" Leaf looked closer at the screen.

"I don't know, but he's raven haired and has a Pikachu." I answered. "He was helping Ashley before she ran off.

"Oh my Arceus! That was Ash!" Leaf exclaimed.

"That was Ashley's brother?!" Rosa and I exclaimed.

"Yes! Did she recognize him?" Leaf asked.

"No, it didn't look like it." Rosa shook her head as she poked her head so Leaf can see her. "I think she didn't even see his face."

"Good, it has to stay that way." Leaf sighed.

"Leaf, are you sure it's a good-?"

"Oops, Ashley's here! See you guys at the food court!" Leaf said before hanging up.

"Do you think Ashley will ever find out on her own?" Rosa asked.

"I don't know, but we have to keep it from her at all cost." I answered as we walked to the food court.

* * *

 **Amber's POV**

"Ashley! What took you so long and where's Kris?!" Leaf asked as Ashley came running towards our table.

"Sorry, but I got a bit sidetracked. Kristee's at the bookstore since she forgot her pokégear there We spent a lot of time looking through shelves." Ashley answered as she placed the books she had in her arms on the table.

"Are those Kristee's?"I asked.

"Yeah, and she has about two more bags of books with her." Ashley answered as she sat down.

"Was the bookstore all you two went?" Leaf asked.

"Of course not!" Ashley exclaimed. "She went to get Ethan a birthday present and I went along with her. We went to the nail salon where we got our nails done after that." she showed us her new shiny red nails. "Than to a couple of boutiques and the PokéMart for supplies."

"At least Kris is letting loose a bit."I looked at Leaf.

"Maybe." she muttered as Hilda and Rosa walked towards our table. "What have you two done today?" Leaf asked.

"We went to a recording studio where Rosa wanted to see 4 Elites record their new album." Hilda explained.

"We got in because Hilda was able to use her manager skills to get 4 Elites to hire her as a promotion manager!" Rosa squealed.

"That must be good for you." Ashley smiled at Hilda.

"It is. It gives me something to do while Hilbert is on his own mission." Hilda said as she sat down with her bags.

"You can't hide your love for him by working all day~!" Rosa sang.

"Like you're one to talk!" HIlda shouted at her. "You're the one who was going gaga over both 4 Elites and Christoph!"

"Christoph? As in the pop icon Christoph?" Leaf asked.

"Yeah. That's him." Rosa nodded while blushing.

"What did he do to make you fall for him?" Leaf asked.

"I didn't fall for him!" Rosa defended. "But I did give him his Xtransceiver when he dropped it after getting out of the studio. He thanked me and kiss my hand."

"Aw! That's sweet!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, compared to that, the rest of our day was pretty boring. Went to a couple of boutiques and then the nail salon." Hilda explained.

"Did everyone go the boutiques and nail salon?" I asked. "Leaf and I also went there."

"Great minds think alike?" Ashley suggested.

"I don't know, but let's just wait for Kris so we can go back to the house." Leaf sighed.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kristee ran up to us.

"Great timing. We were just leaving." Leaf said as Ditty moved from her head as a hat to his blob form next to Leaf.

"Leaf, I'm not sure if-" I was cut off as Ditty transformed into a Skarmory, scaring many people who immediately moved out of the way.

"Amber, you know that you can't stop her." Kristee sighed as she let Xatee out.

"I know." I sighed as I let Kitty out. He floated around and grabbed ahold of me.

More people evacuated our surrounding area as Ashley and Hilda let Char and Barbara out.

"Let's go before security comes." I suggested.

"Than let's go!" Leaf exclaimed. Ditty took off and we followed her.

Static filled my ear as I turned on my earpiece.

"Do you think we all had a good day today?" I asked.

"Of course" Leaf answered. "You got a new look for outings, Rosa met her future husband, Hilda signed a new job, Kris is relaxing for once, and Ashley- actually, what did you do today?"

"I did nothing special, but it doesn't affect me though." Ashley said. " I was just glad to be hanging out with you girls. It was fun!"

"If Ashley had fun just spending time with us, then what about you, Leaf?" I asked.

"Oh, I had fun of my own!" she teased.

"You're always so cryptic." Kristee sighed.

I heard Leaf laugh as we flew through the air. Though we were split, we actually had bonding time with each other. With the boys gone soon, we might become even closer as a team.

* * *

 **A few things; once again, 100PKD is equal to 1 USD. Grand Master Battle is based off of Grand Theft Auto and the XX part is because Pokemon is 20 years old! 4 Elites are based off of a certain band. Anyone who can guess correctly will get a shout out! And I like to give some COD a spotlight in some chapters of my stories. But I like to admit it; I have an OC problem. I noticed, when typing up the newest chapter of this story, I have so many OCs!**

 **I think that's all, but don't forget to review! I get really happy when I know that people are enjoying my stories!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	16. Birthday Party

**Greetings my lovely readers! I don't know why, but it feels like forever since I've updated. Probably because of school.**

 **I've officially gotten used to school again (mostly) and it's still a pain in the butt. Classes are going well, but AP and honors can catch up to you. Trust me. And tennis is, complicated, right now. Let's just say I've worked so hard all summer just to have someone else quit and get me punished for it. But it's not like I have a grudge against that person. Not at all.**

 **Enough about my life. I say I'm private about it, yet I share my life a lot with you guys. Weird. Anyways, to the reviews!**

 **Redstar 02 (Guest): Well I did say to read the author's note and I see that you didn't. or maybe you did, but didn't get the hint in there, but yes it's her. The mission will be explained a little bit in here and as for Ashley, that was sorta the point.**

 **Only one review this time around, but I am always open to hear what all of you in storyland think about my story here! And a few weeks ago, I've received and accepted an offer to co-author a story on this site, but I haven't worked on the part I'm supposed to write yet, (sorry Lilitraum!) since my life have just been so crazy lately. With school, tennis, and my family, I have a lot of things to balance.**

 **Okay, time to end this note. To the disclaimer!**

 **Disclaimer: I, AKCC, do not and will not own Pokemon in any shape or form. Nor either of the songs in this chapter. I only own my own OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

 **Hilbert's POV**

"Okay, so we're going to enroll here?" I asked Calem when Red was done briefing us on our new mission.

"Exactly." he nodded. "I'm the only third year here, than it's you, Ethan, and Argent as second years, and Rald and Nate as first years."

"How is Nate a first year? He's a year younger than me." Rald pointed out.

"He's smarter than he looks." Calem pointed out. "He's able to skip a year so he'll be with the rest of us."

"Okay, so that part is taken care of." Ethan started before a grin crept up on his face. "To more important things, my birthday."

"Can't you think of anything other than yourself?" Argent looked at him.

"We're back!" Leaf announced as she and the other girls walked through the front door.

"Woah." Calem's went wide-eyed as he saw the bags they had with them. "Did you buy the entire mall out or something?"

"Don't be silly!" Leaf waved him off. 'We wouldn't go to a mall with a 100000 PKD limit! We went to the Mauville shopping outlet!"

"How much do you guys have left?" I asked. "Each."

"Surprisingly, we have 50000 PKD left each." Amber answered. "And we brought a lot too."

"Red said that he'll add 1000 PKD to our account every week." Hilda added.

"That is so not fair! They get unlimited money while we have to go to a boarding school!" Ethan complained.

"So that's your guys' mission?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. We're getting enrolled in an academy." Calem answered.

"Why? Red must have a good reason if he's sending all of you for an extended amount of time." Kristee asked.

"We can't say anymore right now." Argent shook his head.

"Alright. That understandable." Rosa said. "But my question is, all of you are going to enroll in the same school, right?" We all nodded. "Than how is Nate going to get in? He's a year younger than Rald who is old enough to be a first year." Rosa asked.

"We already talked about that. Nate and you are smarter than most kids your age so you'll be able to skip a grade." I explained.

"I told you guys were smarter than you thought." Hilda smiled as she placed a hand on Rosa's head.

"Can we get back to what really important?" Ethan butted in. "My birthday."

"Always thinking of yourself." Kristee rolled her eyes at him. "We're turning it in early." she excused herself before the girls went upstairs.

"I'm tired too. See you tomorrow." I waved the boys off as I yawned. Some of the other boys followed my lead and went upstairs.

* * *

 **Hilda's POV**

"Okay, so we'll film the commercial for their latest album next week then?" I asked the 4 Elites' manager on the other line.

"Sounds good. I'll make sure the boys are there already ready." he comfirmed.

"Ask him if I can help out!" Rosa pestered me in my room.

"Rosa! You know I can't!" I told her while covering the pokégear.

"Please!" she pleaded.

"Fine." I sighed. "Hey, Mark, is it okay if my sister come watch for a bit? She won't be a bother and she really wants to see the band."

"That's fine. Just make sure she doesn't bother the boys too much. They're focusing a lot on their music right now." he agreed.

"Thanks Mark. I'll see you at the shoot than." I said before hanging up. "Are you happy now?" I asked Rosa.

"Yes!" she squealed.

"Hey, guys?" Ashley poked her head through the doorway. "Can you come downstairs and help us decorate for Ethan's party today?"

"Sure." I nodded as I stood up from my desk. Rosa and I walked out of my room and followed Ashley to the elevator. Amber was there with a box in her hands.

"What's that?" Rosa asked her.

"Proteam Omega action figures." Amber answered. "I found them at an online auction and got them for a very low price. I was surprised that people are willing to sell them for 1000 PKD altogether for mint condition, genuine ones."

"Not like the ones made overseas in those lesser regions." I noted.

"Yeah. I brought a Xtransceiver from a company in Orre and it broke immediately!" Rosa complained. "I'm only buying stuff from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia now."

"Since most of us forgot to get Ethan a gift, I thought I just wrap these up and tell him that everyone who didn't originally get him a gift got a figure for him." Amber shrugged.

"Amber, you can be too nice sometimes." Ashley sighed. "Just let Ethan blame people for forgetting his birthday."

"I just feel bad for him. The only ones who got presents for him are Kris, Rald, and me." Amber shrugged.

"Actually, Kris' present is also from me." Ashley pointed out. "I had to direct her to a store with a bunch of creepy guys to buy it. I offered to pay half of it, but she said 'no'."

"Still nice if you to be considerate." I noted.

We rode the elevator down to the living room where Leaf was directing some of the boys to hang the decorations.

"I got the action figures." Amber announced as she set the box down on a table they already set up.

"Good job, Am." Leaf nodded to her. "Hilda, Rosa, do you think you can help wrap these?"

"Sure." we nodded. I picked up the box and went down to the kitchen. Kristee was already in there baking.

"What are you making, Kristee?" Rosa asked as she got out some wrapping paper from the supply closet in there.

"A birthday cake." she replied as she mixed a bowl of batter.

"Need some help?" I asked.

"No, Amber is already helping me." Kristee answered as Amber came into the kitchen with an apron on.

"How many action figures did you get, Amber?" I asked her as I got the packaged toys out.

"I think 7." Amber responded as she placed some flour in a bowl.

"That's just enough for everyone." I commented. While Kristee and Amber was making the food for Ethan's party, Rosa and I finished wrapping up the presents.

"We're done. These go on the table, right?" I asked Leaf as Rosa and I walked into the living room.

"Yep." Leaf nodded, pointing to a table with three presents already on it.

"Do you need us to do anything else?" Rosa asked.

"No." Leaf looked at her clipboard in her hand. "Argent is already taking Ethan out somewhere so he'll be away until we get the party set up. Calem, Hilbert, and Nate are already decorating which is almost done. Rald is setting up the confetti cannons while Kristee and Amber are making the cake and food for the party."

"Where's my dad?" Ashley asked. Her dad and her have been getting along a bit since last week. Even though it's only been about five words between the two.

"He's off to do the preparations for the boys' mission." Leaf answered. "But we need some entertainment for the party."

"Leave that to me." I volunteered. "Rosa, will you help?"

"Of course!" she nodded.

"Than let's go!"

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

I watched as Hilda and Rosa ran out of the house.

"Do you need me to look after the boys while you check in on Kristee and Amber?" I offered.

"That would be great. Thanks Ashley." Leaf smiled while she went down to the kitchen.

"Hey Ashley, where do you want these balloons?" Calem asked, holding a bunch of balloons.

"Aren't those supposed to be filled with helium?" I pointed to the pack of balloons in his hand.

"Leaf just said to get balloons. And I did." he shrugged as helifted the pack up.

"How big are they?" I asked.

"They can expend up to two feet." he replied.

"Where did you find those?" Hilbert asked as he and Nate set up the streamers.

"I know a guy." Calem winked.

"Okay, I think we can use those for some party games than." I suggested.

"What kind of games?" Nate asked.

"I know!" I snapped my fingers. "Quick! Give me the presents!"

* * *

"Ah! Where are the presents?!" Leaf screamed when she walked back in.

"Don't worry. We're using them for a party game Ethan will have to play if he wants his presents." I assured her.

"Oh okay. I nearly had a heart attack." Leaf sighed. "Let's see... we almost got everything done." she checked her clipboard. "Where's Hilda and Rosa?"

"We're here!" Hilda said as they walked into the living room. "We got some rented instruments set up outside."

"Instruments? What good are they for?" Leaf looked at them.

"I thought it would be a good idea if we perform a song. You know, like a band." Rosa shrugged.

"That does sound like a good idea." Calem voiced his opinion.

"But if you want to do that, we would've practiced." Leaf pointed out.

"Well, there is that one song we all know." Nate pointed out. "All we need is a lead singer. Amber is only good for backup due to her soft voice."

"What about Ashley?" Hilbert suggested.

"Me? I'm not sure." I said sheepishly.

"You'll have to do though. Here." Leaf handed me sheets of paper. "Learn the lyrics and be ready to perform when the rest of us do." she turned to the boys. "You boys go help Kristee and Amber set up the food out here."

"What song is this?" I looked at the sheets Leaf gave me. "Stay Together?" I read aloud.

"It's really easy, Hilda and Rosa can help you learn it." Leaf nodded to them.

"Actually, we have to go and get the lights and everything ready outside." Hilda replied.

"We're managing the performance." Rosa added.

"It's fine. I can learn this on my own." I waved them off. "Leaf needs my help anyways so I can help her while learning this."

"Here, if you're going to to be helping me, you'll need this." Leaf placed a pair of headphones on my head. She showed me a music player and pressed 'Play'. Automatically, a song began playing low enough that I could hear what was going on around me while able to hear the song clearly. "That's the song. This should get you a feeling of it." Leaf winked.

"Thanks Leaf." I smiled at her.

 _Ring!_

"Leaf here." Leaf picked up her pokégear. "What?! You guys are back already?!"

"Leaf, you go take care of Argent and Ethan." I told her. She gave me a thumbs up and ran out of the living room.

"Where should these go?" Calem asked as he, Hilbert, and Nate carried plates of food into the living room.

"Over there." I pointed to where a long table was set up. They nodded and set the plates down.

"Watch out!" Kristee warned as she and Amber rolled in a three layer cake. It was covered in fondant with gold powder dusted over it. Black stripes alternated on each layer with intricate piped icing designs all over the cake. Fifteen candle were poking through on top of the cake.

"Set that over next to the buffet table." I directed them. They carefully wheeled the trolley with the cake on it next to the table and stepped back when it was done.

"I got the cannons done." Rald walked in.

"Good, set them up with the stage Hilda and Rosa has outside." I told him.

"Stage?" Rald, Kristee, and Amber was confused.

"Just go to the backyard and you'll see it." I sighed. He shrugged and went outside.

"Ashley, why are you wearing those headphones?" Amber asked.

"Leaf wants me to learn the lead vocals for a song we're doing." I told her.

"We're doing a song?" Kristee asked.

"Yeah. The only one which we all know." Calem nodded.

"You guys go outside and see that your instruments and equipments are set up for when we perform." I ushered them outside.

 _Ring!_

"Yeah?" I picked it up.

"Ashley? We may have to change the party schedule a bit." it was Leaf.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Ethan wants his presents first." she told me.

"Fine. We can work with that." I sighed. "Just get them to the backyard where the battlefields are."

"Got it." she said before hanging up.

I closed my pokégear and ran outside. Hilda and Rosa was not kidding when they said they got a stage. It was a stage fit for an actual concert, complete with stage lights and curtains to the side. Hilda, Hilbert, Rosa, and Nate were off to the side completing things for the stages controls while Rald was installing his confetti cannons in.

Kristee was at a drum set while Amber was setting up her mic near her keyboard. Calem was strumming on a guitar while a bass was waiting on a stand.

"Change of plan." I walked up to them. "We're starting with the presents first."

"Why?" Calem asked.

"Ethan is being impatient and greedy." I told them. "We have to get to the battlefields." They nodded and followed me there.

"Alright, first up, it's Rosa and Nate, than Hilbert and Hilda. After them, it's a triple battle with Leaf, Argent, and Calem. than back to Multi Battles with Amber and Rald and to finish things up, it's Kristee and I." I told them.

"What are we doing exactly?" Amber asked me.

"For Ethan to get his presents, he has to battle each of us. He's allowed to use his entire team while each of us are allowed one pokémon each, so things wouldn't drag on forever. When he beats you, he gets a choice between two balloons. No matter which one he chooses, he gets both presents. Except at the last battle. It's all or nothing. If he chooses the wrong one, he loses all of his presents." I explained.

"Cruel." Rald noted.

"I know. Can you guys go a bit easy on him? It is his birthday." I asked them.

"Why not? I feel lazy today." Hilbert shrugged.

"Who are you and what did you do with Hilbert? You never go easy in a battle." Hilda looked at Hilbert, bewildered.

"Guys! They're here! Get in positions!" I told them as I spotted three figures in the sky.

They quickly scrambled to their battlefields while Kristee and I went to the last field.

"Are you sure this will work?" Kristee asked me.

"Of course. Ethan's always so determined. He'll beat them to get his presents." I told her as I took off the headphones and set them around my neck.

"You learned the song?" Kristee asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It was easy enough."

I looked at the first battle where Ethan was already finished and got his first two action figures. Nate and Rosa followed him to the next field where Hilbert and Hilda was waiting with their Bo and Amanda.

"So you play the drums?" I asked her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah I do." she nodded. "Having practice with kicking a lot of things, drums really fit me. What about you? Do you sing a lot?"

"Not really." I shook my head. "When Dad left me alone at our house, I would sing to my pokémon to entertain ourselves. They loved it and I would sing to them every day until Dad came back. When I went on my journey, I never had the time."

"Too bad." Kristee said as she watched Ethan move on to Leaf, Argent, and Calem. "I would think you'd have a nice voice."

"You might this is lame, but when I was little, I remember this really sappy song." I told her.

"What's it called?" she asked.

"I don't remember, but I know a little bit of it." I shook my head.

"Tell me." Kris looked at me.

I closed my eyes and a piece of the song played in my head again.

 _ **Just close your eyes**_

 _ **The sun is going down**_

 _ **You'll be alright**_

 _ **No one can hurt you now**_

 _ **Come morning light**_

 _ **You and I'll be safe and sound**_

"That's all I know." I sighed as I finished the verse.

"That sounds beautiful though." Kristee smiled as Ethan moved up to Amber and Rald.

"Thanks. When I remember it, it sounded like a woman was singing it. Sometimes, I'd like to think that it was my mother singing to me before she died." I sighed.

"That's cool." Kristee nodded as she looked away. "Hey look! Ethan's coming!"

* * *

 **Ethan's POV**

Oh yeah! Best birthday ever so far! First, Argent brought me to a Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City where we watched the Pokémon League Champions battle each other. It was epic by the way.

And then, for the actual party, they set up battles for my presents! I already got seven Proteam Omega limited edition action figures! Amber got me some new training items for my pokémon while Rald made me a new collapsable billiard cue. The balloons were a nice touch too.

"Alright, what's my final present?" I walked up to Kristee and Ashley.

"Sorry, Ethan, but we can't tell you that." Kristee shook her head.

"You have to beat us first." Ashley added.

"Okay for me. I beat everyone else already."I smirked as I brought out Exbo and Aibo.

"But can you beat us?" Kristee looked at me as she brought out Megaree and Ashley's Pika jumped on the field.

"Aibo! Swift! Exbo, Flame Charge!" I ordered.

"Ambipom!" Aibo swung his tail around and several stars shot out from it. They headed right towards Pika.

"Ty!" Exbo bursted into flames and ran towards Megaree.

"Pika! Use Quick Attack!" Ashley commanded.

"Pika!" Pika shot off to the side with a streak of white light following her. The Swift followed her until Pika ran right in front of Exbo.

"Plos!" Exbo was hit with the Swift as Pika landed next to Megaree.

"Let it loose!" Kristee yelled.

"Mega!" Megaree's petals glowed a bright green as a very bright beam was fired from it.

"Exbo!" I yelled out as the Solar Beam hit him. I was so distracted to not notice her charging that attack.

"Come on! Use Blast Burn!" I yelled.

"Typlos!" Exbo stood up and launched a stream of glowing red fire from his mouth.

"Aibo! Swift to cover him!" I ordered.

"Ambi!" Aibo exclaimed as he swung his tail again. The stars flew around, surrounding both Megaree and Pika. They couldn't see the Blast Burn until it bursted through the Swift and hit them head on.

Smoke appeared as the attack made contact. When it cleared, Megaree and Pika were both fainted.

"Yeah! We did it!" I jumped up as Exbo and Aibo ran up to me.

"Alright. You won. Time to choose your prize." Ashley said as she and Kristee walked up to me with a balloon each.

"But choose wisely. If you choose the empty balloon, you lose all your presents." Kristee warned.

"What?!" I yelled.

"What fun is it if there wasn't any risk to it?" Leaf laughed.

"Fine."I looked back at Kristee and Ashley. The balloons both looked the same. "Hmm, I choose SSG!"

"Why you-!"

 _POP!  
_ "Good choice, you got your present!" Ashley announced after she popped the balloon with Pika's Iron Tail.

"Grand Master Battle XX? I've been waiting for this game forever!" I exclaimed as I took the game from Kristee's hands.

"Let's head inside now so we can eat." Amber suggested.

* * *

 **Leaf's POV**

Okay, so everything is going well so far. That's good. Hopefully it will still that way.

"Whoops!"

 _Splat!_

Or not.

"Ethan!" Kristee growled as a piece of cake slid down her face.

"Uh oh." Ethan gulped.

Kristee ripped off a piece of cake and threw it towards Ethan. Unfortunately, he ducked and the cake hit Hilda instead.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. She looked over to her laughing siblings and dumped the punch bowl on them.

Soon, it became chaos. Well, more chaotic than it already was. You can never know with this group.

Rosa and Nate grabbed a plate of cupcakes and started to throw them around the room. One hit Rald in his mouth while he was laughing while another hit Hilbert on his nose.

Hilda grabbed a plate of cupcakes of her own and pelted everyone else with them. Amber and Ashley got hit on the side of their face.

Calem was laughing at Ashley so she stuffed several cookies into his mouth, followed by a piece of cake smooshed against his face.

All the meanwhile, Argent just stood in the middle of it. Until a stray piece of cake splat against his face. That was when he joined in.

"This was not how the party was supposed to go!" I exclaimed as I ducked a flying melon. I planned this out for so long! And where the hell did a melon come from?!

"Watch out!" Ashley warned. I turned, only to have a coconut cream pie slam into my face.

And everyone went quiet.

The pie slid down and I opened my eyes. I saw that Ethan was the one who threw it.

" **ETHAN!** "

I grabbed what was rest of the cake and threw towards that boy.

The cake hit him and he slammed into the wall. Hope you enjoy your cake, birthday boy!

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

After that little food fight. Everyone got cleaned up before heading outside for the concert. The living room would just have to wait until tomorrow to get clean.

Hilbert, Hilda, Rosa, and Nate were managing the stage equipments, lights, and overall look while Rald was off to the side ready to activate his confetti cannons.

Kristee was on drums while Amber was on her keyboard, ready to go. Calem's playing his guitar while Argent was on bass. Leaf was the acoustic aspect with her guitar.

Even though I'm the lead vocals, Kris, Amber, and Leaf are going to provide their voices for back up. Some of the boys too.

I walked towards the stage as the others got their instruments ready. Ethan was the only one in the audience since we are doing this for him.

After I adjusted the mic stand, I looked back at everyone else to might sure they were ready. They all nodded to confirm it.

"Alright. Ethan, you better like this." I spoke into the mic and my voice echoed across the evening sky.

"Woo-hoo!" he yelled.

I rolled my eyes at him as the song got started. Kris played softly as Calem joined in, signaling my almost entrance. I closed my eyes and felt the beat enter through my heart. I opened my mouth and just sang.

 _ **This is all so familiar**_

 _ **You know we've been here before**_

 _ **Don't you remember this calm, calm feeling**_

 _ **The calm before the storm**_

I opened my eyes and took the mic off of the stand. I took deep breath and walked around the stage as I sang the next verse.

 _ **If we just stay together**_

 _ **It'll be alright**_

 _ **If we just fight for what we have**_

 _ **It'll get us through, get us through this time**_

I slowed down my walk and acted like I was on a stroll.

 _ **You said how tired you've been feeling**_

 _ **My strength is fading too**_

 _ **But don't give up on me just yet**_

 _ **And I won't give up on you**_

I sped up my walk and just walked around the stage again.

 _ **If we just stay together**_

 _ **It'll be alright**_

 _ **If we just fight for what we have**_

 _ **It'll get us through, get us through, get us through this time**_

 _ **Get us through this time**_

 _ **Stick together, be together you and I**_

I jumped up and stomped my feet on the stage. The confetti cannons went off as the others did something to make the sound twist. I don't know how, but it sounded great!

 _ **Stay together**_

 _ **It'll be alright**_

 _ **If we just fight for what we have**_

 _ **It'll get us through, get us through**_

 _ **If we just stay together**_

 _ **It'll be alright**_

 _ **If we just fight for what we have**_

 _ **It'll get us through, get us through, get us through this time**_

I slowed down as the song was coming to a close.

 _ **Get us through this time**_

 _ **Get us through this time**_

I panted as I raised my hand with the mic in it up as the song ended. I had confetti on my hair as I turned back to look at the others. Leaf was the first one to cheer. Soon, everyone else fell into line.

Rald set off another explosion from the confetti cannon as everyone, including Ethan ran onto the stage and celebrated alongside with everyone else.

I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was Calem. He had his arms open and I gladly hugged him.

He seemed surprised by my tackle, but returned the hug. "You were great out there." he whispered in my ear, soft enough so only I could here.

"Thanks." I said as I hugged him tighter.

I let go of him once I felt an arm around my shoulders. I looked at who is was attached to and it was Leaf.

"See! I told you could do it!" she exclaimed.

"Because you made me listen to that song over and over!" I laughed.

Suddenly music played over the speakers. Everyone looked over to Hilda who held up her white pokégear.

"Wireless speakers." she explained.

With that, we had a final party on stage. Somehow, it seemed like Calem was always at my side during the rest of the night.

When I looked out at the dark battlefields, I thought I saw a glisten of red eyes and a faint smile.

* * *

 **The first part of the chapter was just a little continuum from last chapter, but the real star was Ethan's party, just to let you know. And anyone who can guess the song Ashley sang a little bit to Kris to get a shout out.**

 **Speaking of which, the real life band the 4 Elites was based off of was One Direction! Yeah, I'm** ** _that_** **kind of girl. It's was mainly based off of the name though. Not much after that. No one got that last chapter, but another little contest! Seriously, I will have small references in this story many, many times.**

 **And have any of you seen the new trailer for the Sun and Moon anime? Can I just say, I've officially lost hope. Ash just looks so freaking weird! What the hell?! In my opinion, the anime went downhill after Diamond and Pearl. I hated Black and White, but some of it was recovered with X and Y, but now it is officially gone when I saw the artwork for Ash in the Sun and Moon anime. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who thinks that.**

 **And any of you watch RWBY? I'm so psyched for the fourth volume! And I've seen some of the artwork for Team RWBY and can't wait for it!**

 **And the one year anniversary of this fic and ATiL is coming up! Yay! For that, I'll be posting a chapter for both of them on that day! Tune in for that! Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've posted on this site! I still can't believe it!**

 **And I am officially done! And don't forget to review! I love to hear from all of you!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	17. Sneak Peek

**Hello my wonderful and lovely readers! As I said last update, I'm posting a chapter to celebrate the one year anniversary of this story! I can't believe that it has been that long! Oh! It's amazing! to see the amount of support I've received ever since I started! As a matter of fact, I'm going to post the checkpoints for this story's stats!**

 **Reviews: 19**

 **Views: 3927**

 **Favs: 15**

 **Follows: 16**

 **I never expected to see this much support in such little time! I love all of you so much! And let's get to the reviews!**

 **.18: Can I call you AM18? It'll be better for me since somehow I can't type your name in this here. As I said, I wrote the majority of this story a long, long time ago so if I did, you might not see it for a while and I don't know much about Sun and Moon yet and I don't want to jump to conclusions unless I know for certain about everything. I already got some cameos from another franchise and I think that's enough for one story. I don't know how I'm able to fit RWBY characters in at this point! And I guess I was a bit too vague on the Giselle part. Sorry about that!**

 **I would've posted this earlier today, but again, my life is busy. *sigh* Just a another normal day as a high school student. Oh, wait. Wrong story to use that. Anyways, to the disclaimer!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, where I get my references from, or any songs. Just the OCs I created.**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Are we there yet?" Blue whined.

"The answer to that hasn't changed ever since you asked it five minutes ago. It's still 'no'." Crystal said, annoyed.

"When are we going to be there?" Blue whined.

"Just a little more. Don't worry." Yellow assured her.

"But this is getting so boring!" Blue whined once more.

"Than find something to entertain yourself with." I suggested. "Look at White and Whi-Two, they're listening to music." I pointed to the two siblings, who were sharing headphones as they were listening to something on Whi-Two's white with orange flame designed pokégear.

Blue stayed quiet for a few more minutes so the only sound was the hum of the helicopter's dual blades above us.

"Are we there yet?" Blue broke the silence.

"For the love of Arceus! NO!" Crystal yelled. "Why don't the boys have to suffer through this?!"  
"Because they're busy getting ready for their mission with my dad." I pointed out.

"If they're the only ones on this mission, then why do we have to go with them?" Yellow asked.

"I don't know. I still don't understand why he wanted us to use our codenames." I shrugged.

"The boys are using their codenames for this mission so that probably why." Yellow suggested.

"Maybe." I said as I looked out one of the windows.

Now, it's August 1st, the day the boy are starting their mission. As far as we girls know, they're going to a boarding school. Dad wanted all of us to go to the school so the boys would get checked in. We're supposed to use our codenames so it would make the boys' cover more believable. We're also using Dad's private helicopter (another thing to ask him about) to get to an elite private boarding school on an island somewhere near Sinnoh.

Ever since Gold's birthday and Dad seeing me on stage, we've been getting along for the most part. We talk to each other on a semi daily basis.

The girls and I have also been getting used to our new partners since we would spend about a year without our usual ones. Crystal and I have already been on two information gathering missions that ended in flawless success.

I've also had training of my own. Rio has helped me a lot with my aura. I'm able to control it without much thought now. Pika and the others have also gotten stronger. X and I had some practice battles which I always win. He said I only won because he was 'going easy' on me. He's just too proud to admit defeat.

"Pi?" Pika looked up at me from her place in my lap.

"I'm fine." I smiled as I petted her a bit. "I was just lost in thought."

"Are we-?"

"Blue! If you say that one more time, I'm kicking you out of this helicopter!" Crystal snapped.

"Crys, don't you think that's a bit extreme?" Yellow sweatdropped.

"I don't care! She's annoying the hell out of me!" she replied.

"I don't think you have to worry anymore." I told them. "I think we're here."

"Really?" everyone asked. Even White and Whi-Two took out the headphones once I said that.

"Just look out the windows."I told them as I turned back to the window.

Below the fluffy layers of clouds, you could make out a large island. It was a bit bigger than the island we call home, and it was big, but this one was even bigger. A dense forest surrounded a collection of buildings in the middle of the island.

The buildings were connected to each other by cobblestone streets with a fountain in the middle of a courtyard. A statue of Arceus was standing behind the fountain with some more fountains and statue branching bigger and bigger. The buildings were linked to each other with several people milling around, with stalls set up outside.

My mistake, that was actually the town. The cobblestone streets faded to a dirt path as it connected to the actual school buildings. If I thought the town was big, the school was twice the size of our house, which was half the size of the town. Each school building was made of red brick with black borders. Students were scattered around the school premises along with many pokémon.

The loudspeakers crackled to life as it was activated.

"Attention, we're starting to descend. Buckle up your seatbelts." Dad announced before the loudspeaker died down.

"What seatbelts?" Blue asked. I looked down and notice that this helicopter had absolutely no seatbelts whatsoever.

"Correction," the loudspeakers crackled to life again with my dad's voice. "Just hold on tight. I forgot that when I brought this helicopter, it had no seatbelts."

"How do you a helicopter with no seatbelts?!" I exclaimed.

"That's a serious safety concern." Yellow commented.

"Ah!" the helicopter suddenly jerked to one side and I quickly grabbed onto the hanging handle.

"What is that man thinking?! He's trying kill us!" White exclaimed.

"I'm not ready to die!" Whi-Two exclaimed.

"We're not going to die!" Crystal yelled. The helicopter suddenly jerked to the other side. "Okay! Maybe we are!"

I hugged Pika close to my stomach as I held on to the hanging handle as tight as I could. I looked around and saw that everyone else was also grabbing their own hanging handles.

I felt like I was being lifted out of my seat. I looked around and saw that the others were also floating!

"We're falling!" we all screamed. We suddenly dropped into our seats as the helicopter stopped falling. The ride was smooth until we felt a jerk.

I looked out of the window to see solid ground.

"Yes! We're alive!" Blue exclaimed as she yanked open the door. She jumped out and we all followed her.

"That was the worst ride ever." White declared as she jumped off the helicopter. She helped Whi-Two out.

"Where did you learn to pilot a helicopter?!" I turned towards my father who was getting out of the cockpit.

"Honestly, this is the first time I piloted one. I had it on Autopilot until we had to land." he said sheepishly.

" **WHAT?!** "

"We could've killed us!" Calem shouted.

"Yes, but we all had to get here and this thing was the only answer." Dad said as he patted the helicopter.

"I'm not getting in that thing again." Crystal said. "I vote that we just use our pokémon to get back home."

"Seconded!" the girls yelled.

"Fine. You girls can go back to the house using your pokémon." Dad sighed. "Anyways, boys let's get you checked in. I'll get your bags to your dorms." he said to the boys.

"What about us?" Blue asked.

"Girls, there's a town nearby. You can go shopping there." Dad suggested.

"Is it me or are you always sending us to go shopping?" Whi-Two asked.

"Isn't that what you girls do?" Gold asked.

"What do you look like to you? 'Marina' dolls obsessed with fashion?" Hilda glared at him.

"Dude, I wouldn't answer that if I was you." Nate shook his head.

"Come guys, Red's leaving without us." Hilbert their attention.

"Good luck." I told them as Blue and I led the girls towards town.

"There's a lot of students here." Yellow noted as we walked through the campus.

She was right. There are a lot of trainers here. Most of them had their pokémon out with them as they explored the campus.

"Crys, what do you know about this academy?" White asked.

"I was able to get some information out of Gold yesterday." Crystal said. "This is the Mastery for the Gifted Academy, or MGA for short."

"That's a stupid name." Blue commented.

"That's the official name, but the staff and students just call it the Pokespe Academy for some reason." Crystal explained. "It was created by Professor Oak for young trainers who showed exceptional skills as trainers in different areas."

"So like Coordinators, Performers, and Breeders?" I asked.

"Exactly. And more." Crystal nodded. "Trainers will either get a letter or apply. Those who apply will only get accepted if they showed enough skill."

"Or if they have connections to a Champion." Blue rolled her eyes.

"Blue, don't think like that." Yellow said.

"Yellow, no one here knows about this version of us and we know Red. Think about it." Blue told her.

"When you put it that way, it does make sense." Whi-Two commented.

"Anything else you know?" White asked.

"The staff here are all Gym Leaders and Elite Fours with a few current and former Champions mixed in." Crystal said.

"Is my dad one of them?" I asked.

"Luckily, no." Crystal shook her head. "The classes here are also specialized for different career paths."

"Get back here you walking disaster!"

"What's that?" I looked up ahead to see a man chasing after an Absol. The Absol was able to slip away when the man tripped.

"Sir, are you okay?" Yellow asked as we ran up to him.  
"I'm fine, but that pokémon isn't going to." the man growled as he stood up.

"What did that Absol do?" White asked.

"That beast walked right into my shop! Absol bring disaster so I wanted it nowhere near my shop!" the man shouted.

"Sir, I'm pretty sure that Absol was trying to warn you of something bad coming to your shop." I told him.  
"Oh no! That Absol has been hanging around here for a week and every shop it walked into, the shop gets destroyed!" the man shouted again.

"Conner! Your shop is on fire!" another man ran up to him.

"What?!" the man exclaimed. "See! I told you!" he yelled at us. He ran towards his shop which was not that far away.

"As much as I hate that man, we have to help him." Crystal said.

"I agree." White nodded.

"Tor! Come on out!" I threw Tor's pokéball into the air. He popped out in a flash of light.

"Blue! Do something! Send out Blasty!" Whi-Two pleaded.

"Why should I?" Blue crossed her arms. "That man blamed that Absol for every bad thing that happened in this town!"

"If we don't do something, than we proving the man right by letting his shop burn down!" I exclaimed.

"Fine." Blue rolled her eyes. "Blasty, Ditty, go help out." Blasty appeared next to her while Ditty transformed into a Blastoise.

"Use Hydro Cannon!" Blue and I yelled, pointing at the shop in flames. All three Blastoise obeyed and six streams of high pressured water soon put out the fire.

"Thank you!" the man who was chasing the Absol exclaimed. "Now to find that Absol." he walked away from us.

"We have to find that Absol before any of the shop owners here do." I said as I returned Tor.

"You're right. If we don't, than there's nothing we can do if the town gets to it." Blue nodded as her Blasty was returned and Ditty reverted back into her hat.

"I think it ran towards the edge of town." Yellow pointed to the side streets.

"What are we waiting for than?" I looked at them. "Let's go!" I ran towards where Yellow was pointing to. I heard the others follow me.

I stopped at a crossroad. Ahead of us was the forest with alleys to either side of us.

"I think it's best if we split up." White suggested.

"She's right." Crystal noded. "Leaf, Yellow and I will take the forest. White, you and your sister will go to the left. Scarlett, are you okay going by yourself?"

"I'm fine." I nodded. "If one of us find Absol, call the others!" I told them as I ran into the right alley.

"Pika pi?" Pika asked as she ran next to me.

"We can't let those shopkeepers find Absol."I told her as I ran down the long alley.

 _Pop!_

 _Can you sense it?_ Rio asked as she ran beside me.

"Let's see."I closed my eyes as I continued running. Rio was running in front of me to guide me. Pika was running right beside me. As we turned a corner, I sensed an aura at the end of the alley. It was a pale green, like it was calm, but still scared.

"There you are." I took a sharp left and Rio and Pika had to backtrack to catch up with me. I slowed down to a walk as I approached the end of the alley.

There was the Absol, huddled in a corner, licking blood off of a wound it has, visible through the dirty gray fur that was normally white.

"Hey there."I said softly as I walked up to it.

"Ab?" Absol looked up at me. "Sol." it growled as it stood up on all fours.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just here to help you." I told it, raising my hands to show no harm.

"Ab?" Absol looked confused.

 _Give us a warning when you turn!_ Rio exclaimed as she and PIka caught up with me.

"Shh!" I told them.

"Ab." Absol growled.

"Listen. I see that you're hurt. Was that because people were blaming you for the disasters at their shops?" I said softly.

"Sol?" Absol let its guard down.

"I know that you were only trying to warn them of their shops getting destroyed. You were only getting them out of harm's way." I said. "And because of that, you got hurt."

 _You can trust her. She's really nice. She can help heal your wounds._ Rio said.

"Ab." Absol slowly limped over to me. I set my bag on the ground and kneeled I opened my bag and pulled out a couple of Super Potions and bandages.

"This might sting a bit." I told Absol as I prepared to spray a Super Potion on its wounds. "But it like make you feel better afterwards.

"Sol." Absol grunted when the spray hit its wounds. It relaxed once it got used to it. I clean up its wounds and wrapped it up with bandages.

"Can you tell me what drew you here?" I asked it as I was wrapping a paw.

Absol said something and Rio translated it.

 _She said that her horn was tingling with anticipation. She sensed that disasters were going to happen here. She walked into the shops where the disasters were going to happen and led the owners and people out of there. But while she was protecting them, they harmed her, thinking she was causing the disasters._ Rio translated.

"Oh, so you know what's causing the disasters exactly?"I asked Absol.

"Ab, sol sol." she replied.

 _She said it felt like a dragon type. The disasters were things like fires and wrecked shops._ Rio translated.

"Hmm. That seems odd. I'm sure no dragon type would live here."I pondered.

"Ab? Sol!" Absol stood up from where she was sitting in front of me and dashed out of the alley.

"Absol!" I called after her. "Let's go after her!"

We raced out of the alley and I sensed Absol's aura in a shop nearby. I got to the shop to see Absol being cornered by the shopkeepers.

"No!"I shouted as I ran in front of Absol.

"Move out of the way!" the man who the girls and I helped earlier shouted.

"No! Absol isn't causing the disasters! All of you are thinking it the wrong way!" I yelled.

"How?! Wherever that thing goes, our shops gets destroyed!" another man shouted.

"That's because it _senses_ disasters! It comes to the sites to try and prevent them! And was what she was doing!" I yelled.

"Oh yeah? If that beast isn't the one causing them, than what is?" a woman shouted.

"A dragon type. Absol was only trying to save you from getting hurt." I glared at the crowd.

"What dragon type is able to do that?" someone else shouted.

"Frrraaaaaxxxxx!"

"Absol!" I exclaimed as Absol leaped in front of me. A Dragon Pulse was aimed at the ceiling and caused it to collapse above everyone. Absol jumped up and used Hyper Beam, destroying the debris before it could hit anybody.

The wall behind us exploded to reveal a Fraxure rampaging.

"Frax!" it launched an Incinerate around the shop. Absol used a Night Slash to counter it. She used another Night Slash that knocked the Fraxure out.

"Oh! So that was where my Fraxure went! It must've went berserk after it evolved from an Axew and rampaged!" the man who was initially chasing Absol exclaimed.

"Yes. Do you all see now why Absol was walking into your shops? She was only protecting all of you from the destruction the Fraxure was about to bring."I explained.

"I guess we were a bit hasty." the man said.

As the shopkeepers cleaned up the mess, Absol, Rio, Pika, and I walked outside.

"So, Absol, I know that we only known each other for a while, but how would you feel if you join my team?" I asked it. "You would be a great addition and friend."

 _Please join! It's really fun and you can get stronger with Scarlett, or also known as Ashley, as your trainer!_ Rio exclaimed.

"Pikachu!" Pika added.

"Absol?" Absol thought about it. "Sol!" she nodded.

"Great!"I smiled as I took a pokéball out. I tapped it against Absol's head and she got converted into a red beam and got sucked into ball. The ball shook once, twice, three times before it clicked.

"Yeah! I just caught an Absol!" I announced as I held the ball up high. I let Absol out again.

"Absol." she said as she appeared.

"How would you ou a nickname?"I asked her. She nodded. "Good. Do you like, Sol?" I asked.

"Ab!" she nodded.

"Than Sol it is!" I smiled.

"Scarlett!" I looked up to see the others catching up with me.

"You found the Absol!" Blue exclaimed.

"Not just found it, but also caught it. Meet Sol." I told them.

"So were you able to calm the shopkeepers down?" Crystal asked.

"Yep. We cleared the whole misunderstanding."I nodded. "Sol was just warning the people of a Fraxure going on a rampage. And the Fraxure was owned by that man we ran into."

"I knew it would all lead back to him." Whi-Two noted.

"Whatever. Are we still going shopping or not?" White said.

"Yeah, we could use some relaxing after that." Yellow nodded.

"Let go." I said as I returned Sol and Rio. Pika climbed onto my shoulder as I walked in front alongside Blue.

* * *

"So, Sol, how did you enjoy that spa treatment?" I asked my newest pokémon.

"Ab!" Sol smiled as she strolled down the streets with her newly washed white fur. The spa was also able to heal her wounds completely so her bandages were off.

"She almost look like a Mega Absol." Yellow noted.

"Too bad we don't have a real Absolite though." I said to her.

"Sol." Sol looked sadden at this.

"Don't worry though! We'll find you one! Just like how we'll find Rio a Lucarionite when she evolves into a Lucario!" I said quickly.

 _Yeah! Than I would be even more powerful!_ Rio exclaimed as she appeared on top of Sol from her pokéball.

"Absol?" Sol asked her.

 _Of course you'll get stronger too! We'll get stronger with Mega Evolution!_ Rio exclaimed. _You should really see Scarlett's other pokémon, Char, Saur, and Tor, when they're Mega Evolved! They're so powerful!_

"Wow. She's really excited about it." Blue sweatdropped.

"Tell me about it." I sweatdropped along with everyone else.

We walked back to the academy campus with several bags in our arms. Rio and Pika was having a fun time riding on Sol who didn't mind much. She was already a big sister to the both of them.

"Where do you think the boys are?" Yellow asked.

"I don't know." Crystal shrugged. "But let's head back to Red and the helicopter."

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave our bags with that death trap? We did nearly die today because of it." White pointed out.

"Would you rather be lugging our stuff around everywhere until we have to go?" Whi-Two asked her. She was right. We're hanging around here until the end of the day.

"I'm sure Red won't mind." Blue said as the helicopter was in sight.

We walked ahead with Sol in front of me. Dad was currently working on something in the cockpit.

"Hi girls. I see you did a lot today." he said as he got out of the seat. "New pokémon?" he asked me.

"Yep." I nodded. "I caught her after she was being chased for some misunderstandings. It got cleared up though. Her name's Sol."

"Can we leave you with our bags? We want to check up with the boys before we leave later." Blue asked.

"Sure." Dad nodded. "Just put them in the back."

We walked around and opened the door. We placed them in and had Xatee use her psychic abilities to tie them down. We're not taking any chances.

"The boys should be in their new dorms. Just go to the housing and their building is called Omega." Dad said.

We nodded and started to walk towards the housing. The housing was more like a neighborhood. There was a small garden in front of each building and a backyard was in the middle of every two buildings, connecting them together.

"Why would they have the buildings be connected with a backyard?" Yellow asked.

"I think one building is for the boys while the other is for the girls." I told her. "The backyard is for the both of them to share."

"Do you see the building where the boys are staying at?" Crystal asked.

"There it is!" White pointed to a brick red building. "It's next to the Alpha building."

"They're certainly not subtle with their names." Blue noted as she looked at the red banner with the Omega symbol hanging above the black door.

"Let's just see them before we have to leave. It's almost dark."I said as I walked up the steps with Sol, Rio, and Pika following me.

 _Should we knock or ring the doorbell or-?_

I turned the doorknob and walked in.

 _Or that can work._ Rio sweatdropped as they walked in after me.

"Do you ever knock?" X asked me as he sat on the couch.

"Ever heard of a lock? Someone can easily come in here while you guys are talking about something important." I countered. "For example, your mission."

"She got you there." Gold nodded.

"So this is your new place? Seems nice." Blue commented as the rest of the girls walked in.

"It is. The rooms are great while we have kitchen and a living room fully furnished." Lack-Two explained.

"And there's the town nearby where we can buy stuff." Black added.

"Are there any girls living in the building next to yours?" White asked.

"No. Red made it so we have the backyard to yourselves this year." Silver answered.

"It's also to make sure no one would listen in to us." X added.

"Is that a new pokémon?" Gold pointed towards Sol.

"Yep."I nodded. "I just caught her today."

"Neat. You have a full team now." X commented.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"So you guys are going to be living here for a year?" Whi-Two asked.

"Yeah. We going to be staying here for a school year straight than we come back home for summer break." Black explained.

"Wait, you're coming back here next year too?" yellow asked.

"Yes. It's a part of our mission." Emerald nodded.

"Not sure if that's a bad or good thing." Crystal pondered.

"I'm hurt SSG. I thought you'll miss me." Gold slung an arm around her shoulders.

Crystal glared at him before kicking him into a wall. "On second thought, it's a good thing they'll going to be here for two years." she said before walking outside.

"Heh. Guess that means we have to go." Blue sweatdropped. "I'll miss all of you guys."

"I'll miss you too, Nee-san." Silver said as he hugged Blue.

"Will you be okay?" White asked Lack-Two.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." he assured her.

"This will be the first time we'll be apart from each other ever since Team Plasma." Whi-Two noted.

"Group hug!" Black exclaimed as he drew the four of them into a hug.

"Remember Emerald, don't let the other kids get to you. and if they do, don't use your gadgets." Yellow warned.

"I got it. You don't need to worry about me, cousin." Emerald waved it off.

"And make sure Gold doesn't get in trouble." Yellow added.

"Hey." X drew my attention away from watching the others.

"Hey." I said back.

"Will you be okay?" X asked.

"I'll be fine. I have my pokémon with me."I gestured to Pika, Rio, and Sol. "I just hope you won't forget about me."

"How would I forget you? You're one of a kind." X smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled back. Things were quiet for a while. The others were still saying goodbye while X and I were standing awkwardly.

 _I have a suggestion._ Rio spoke up. _Why not hug?_

I was about to say something to her when I felt something push into my leg and I landed in X's arms.

"Sorry about that."I blushed.

"It's fine." he blushed as well. I felt his arms close around me in a hug. I was shocked at first, but I allowed my arms to wrap around him and we stood there hugging.

 _Okay I know it was my idea, but this is going on for too long._ Rio interrupted.

I unwrapped my arms from X when I felt something pushing us apart.I looked down and saw that it was Sol with Rio on top.

"I guess this is goodbye than."I said to him. I smiled at him before turning around and walking out of the door. When I walked out, the rest of the girls were already waiting for me.

"So how was your goodbye?" Blue asked.

"What do you mean? It was just a simple hug goodbye." I looked at her.

"You were in there for longer than any of us were." White pointed out.

"That was because we were standing awkwardly until Sol and Rio pushed us together." I glared at them.

 _Just doing our job!_ Rio saluted as Sol smiled.

"Let's just go." Yellow suggested. We nodded and Blue and I led the way back to the helicopter.

I'm not sure why that goodbye was so weird. X and I have never really been that way before. Except maybe after our kiss. Well, kiss _es._ But, the first time was only by accident. The second? I don't even know.

The second kiss we had, I thought I felt something. But I must be wrong. He hasn't mentioned anything about it ever since then. Maybe he hasn't sorted out his feelings yet. I know that I sure haven't. I'm not sure if I like him. As in _like him_ like him. Damn you hormones.

"You girls said your goodbyes?" Dad asked.

"We did." Blue nodded as Ditty crawled off her head and transformed into an Altaria.

"Red, can you fly back ahead of us? We'll catch up." Crystal told him.

"Got it." Dad nodded before climbing into the cockpit. The blades on top of the helicopter started up as dust kicked up. I shielded my eyes as the helicopter rose and flew off.

"Do you think our stuff will get ruined?" White asked she let out Barbara.

"Maybe." Yellow shrugged as Kitty wrapped her hands around Yellow.

"Let's make sure they don't." I suggested as I hopped on Char. I returned Rio and Sol and told Char to follow the helicopter.

I heard the others take off and saw Blue flying next to me. I looked back and saw Yellow following close behind us with Crystal while White and Whi-Two were in the back.

I turned back and smiled. I don't need X to figure out my feelings for him. I just need my friends. And that's enough for me.

* * *

 **Man, I really didn't expect this to happen! Seriously! Both chapters I posted today were a major point in the story! I didn't do it on purpose! I swear! But I am happy nonetheless!**

 **So the boys are gone, that can either be a "Yay!" or a "Boo!" It's up to you! But let me tell you that the girls will have a lot of fun when the guys are away on their mission!**

 **And a new pokemon for Ashley! Yay! Now she finally has a full party! Yay!**

 **Here we find that Red is a terrible pilot. Let's all hope that he would never pilot again. But I'm the author and let me tell you, I wouldn't count on that. Red is going to be a wild pilot!**

 **Okay! I think that's all! Don't forget to leave a little review! Just a little one to you is a major one to me!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	18. A Day Out

**Hello my delightful fans! First things first I would like to thank everyone who viewed my last update! It is now officially over a year since I uploaded this story and as of right now, we have passed the 4000 views mark! Yay!**

 **And for all of you who read y other stories be sure to look out for an update for TPTI this month, but not Lighting the Dark. I still haven't gotten that far as to finish the second chapter. Sorry!**

 **But tie for the reviews!**

 **.18: I see that you can see where this is going! But if you see where I explained it several times, I will have everyone in there sooner or later! And I know. In school, writing was my worst subject since it seemed boring, but now I just want to get better!**

 **Redstar 02 (Guest): Nope, sorry!**

 **Oh! And I included some French or Kalosian in this chapter since I couldn't help it! Don't worry though, I'll include the translations at the end of the chapter! And keep in mind that I didn't use Google Translate for them and I just used it from what I learned in school.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon in any way, shape, or form. I really wish I did, then the new Sun and Moon anime wouldn't look so weird.**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

 **Crystal's POV**

"Was this really the best spot?" I asked. I pulled down my sunglasses a bit and peeked over them. A dark-skinned teenage girl with black curly hair, but was wearing ragged clothes, was admiring a simple black dress in the display window of a high end boutique with an Espurr next to her.

"Of course. All of the other seats are taken and the ones that are open, are too far away." Scarlett replied as she wrapped her white scarf around her neck.

It's been a few weeks since the boys went off to school, but life has been very quiet and successful. Last night, Red informed Scarlett and I on a new mission. We had to gather information on a girl named Emma in Lumiose City and how she was connected to the mysterious Essentia.

"Bonjour! May I take your order?" a waitress with a heavy accent walked up to our table. It was Scarlett's idea to sit at a café.

"Oui! Nous voulons deux cafés au lait, un croissant, une baguette avec du beurre et de la confiture, deux omelettes, et du bacon, s'il vous plaît." Scarlett smiled at the waitress.

"Oh! Oui! Tout suite!" the waitress quickly jotted down the order and left.

"What was that?" I asked Scarlett. "When did you know Kalosian?"

"That? It was nothing. I spend a while in Kalos and I picked up the language a bit. It just feels natural to me." she shrugged.

"Wow." I mumbled to myself as I leaned back against my chair. "There's more to her than I thought."

"Sol?" Scarlett's Sol picked up her head as she looked towards the direction Emma was at. I looked at the same direction and saw her walk into the store.

I found that odd. A girl like Emma looked poor to not be able to afford clothes like that and with these snobby rich people, she would never be able to get a job.

"I wonder what she's going in there for?" Scarlett asked.

"Me too." I sighed.

"Viola! Votre petite-déjuené!" the waitress came back with two trays full of food. She set down two cups of diluted coffee, a croissant, a piece of baguette with butter and Pecha Berry jam, two omelets, and a side of bacon on each plate.

"Merci!" Scarlett smiled at the waitress.

"De rien!" the waitress replied as she walked off.

"You ordered all of this?" I was in awe as I looked at our table.

"Yep! It was the best I can do though. I only remember some food. Not all of them." Scarlett replied as she set the baguette plate in front of her while placing the croissant in front of me.

Okay, having her as my new partner has many perks, I thought as I placed a plate full of an omelet and bacon in front of me. Scarlett did the same while passing me a cup of coffee.

The waitress was also kind enough to give our pokémon some, according to her, 'gourmet' pokémon food. But in my opinion, it's just regular pokémon food packed with extra vitamins and packaged in a fancy box instead of a can.

We ate in peace, while also watching an eye on the store.

"Wow. That was the best meal I had in a long time." I commented as the waitress collected our bill.

"I've been here before. They have the best breakfast in town." Scarlett giggled as she stood up.

"What are you standing up for?" I asked.

"Because Emma just left that store." Scarlett pointed behind me. I peeked over my sunglasses and she was right, Emma was exiting the store.

"Let's follow her." I looked back at Scarlett. She nodded and we took off. I had Bonee out with while Sol was at Scarlett's side with Pika on her shoulder.

It was a sunny day at the beginning of September so we had on sunglasses and scarves to warm ourselves with.

"Where do you think she's going?" I whispered to Scarlett.

"I don't know, but look natural. We don't need to look suspicious. Trust me. I've been there before." she whispered back.

"You mean when X had to save you?" I asked

"Exactly." she blushed.

"Did something happen between you guys? You've been acting weird anytimes his name is mentioned." I raised a brow at her. Bonee was snickering in my arms.

"Um, well, you see-" she looked away. I looked down and saw Sol snickering as well.

"Scarlett, did anything serious happen?" I asked her. "I remember a while ago when I heard some noises and voices from your room. It sounded a lot like-"

"What?! No! No! Nothing like that happened between us!" she was blushing madly. "Gold has seriously corrupted your mind!"

"Trust me, I can't believe it either." I sighed. "So, what happened?"

"Promise not to laugh or tell Blue?" Scarlett said in a low voice.

"Partner confidentiality." I nodded my head.

"I'm not sure if that's a thing, but okay." she took a deep breath. "X and I kissed."

"That's all? Was that what you were worrying about? We all saw it." I pointed out.

"I know. Still one of the most embarrassing moments of my life." she muttered. "But that was our first kiss."

"First kiss?" I was curious.

"Yeah. After I blew up at my dad and went up to my room, X followed me in the elevator. He stopped it and than we got to talking. One thing led to another and before I knew it, we were kissing. Deeply. For a very long time." Scarlett looked at her feet.

Before, Pika was quietly containing her laughter, but when Scarlett was finished she bursted out laughing.

"Pi ka ka! Pi! Pi! Chu! Ka ka ka!" she laughed.

"What the hell are you laughing for?!" Scarlett glared at her partner.

"Um, so you guys actually kissed? On purpose this time? Not on accident like the first time?" I stared wide-eyed at her.

"Yes." she turned red again. "And while we were, I didn't know what he or even what I was doing. I just stood there."

"Cu! Cubone!" Bonee pointed his Thick Club towards an alley where a lock of black hair just disappeared into.

"Your confusing relationship aside, we have a girl to chase after!" I exclaimed as I pulled Scarlett towards the alley.

Sol ran after us as we hurried into the alley. When we turned to face it, the alley was empty.

"But, how? I just saw her walk in here!" I was shocked.

"Crys? Are you sure it was Emma? It could've been any other raven-haired girl." Scarlett pointed out.

"No, it was her! I know it was! And if it was anyone else, they would still be in here." I pondered.

"Crys, are you sure you weren't just seeing things? You were up late last night doing a lot of research." Scarlett raised a brow.

"No! I saw it and Bonee saw it too!" I insisted. Please Arceus, tell me I'm not becoming crazy.

"Looking for me?" a semi robotic female voice said. We looked up and saw a slender figure in a black and orange tech suit. The figure jumped from the rooftop and landed in front of us.

"Essentia." Scarlett took off her sunglasses.

"So you heard about me?" Essentia tilted her head.

"Hard to not hear about a mysterious woman stealing other trainers' pokeballs when she's done battling them." I took off my own sunglasses.

"So you know what I'm going to do with you now! Go Malamar!" Essentia threw a pokéball at us. A large purple and black pokémon popped out.

"Malamar." it had an evil grin on its face.

"Bonee, get back in where it's safe." I returned Bonee. "Go! Arckee!" I kicked Arckee's pokéball out.

"Arc!" he roared.

"Ri! Riolu!" Rio popped out from Scarlett's belt.

"Rio! What are you-?! Oh forget it." Scarlett facepalmed. "Rio! Use Force Palm!"

"Arckee! Use Flamethrower!" I commanded.

"Ri!" Rio jumped on top of Arckee's back with her paw pulled back. Arckee fired up a Flamethrower as Rio jumped off of his back.

"Mala?" Malamar was confused when Rio rushed up to it and pressed her paw to its chest. A light appeared and and explosion happened.

Rio jumped back to Scarlett and Arckee launched his Flamethrower at Malamar while it was distracted.

More smoke appeared and Scarlett and I had to use our scarves to cover our mouths. There goes these new scarves. And these were cute too!

When the smoke cleared, Malamar was clearly weakened, but it was still on its feet.

"Malamar, Superpower." Essentia ordered.

"Mala! Mar!" one of Malamar's tentacles glowed blue and Malamar slammed it into Arckee who flew into Rio.

"Rio!"

"Arckee!" Scarlett and I exclaimed.

"Ri! Riolu!" Rio pushed Arckee off of her and jumped in front of Malamar. "Lu!" Rio started to glow.

"Oh my Arceus!" Scarlett gasped. Rio's glowing form grew taller. Her metal stubs on her paws grew into spikes with another growing in the middle of her chest. Her appendages on her head split so there were two on each side.

"Lucario!" the light died down and Rio was no longer a Riolu, but she was a fully grown Lucario. But since she was a shiny, the usually pale yellow fur around her chest and torso was now blue while everything but her regular fur was the same. A Lucario's usual blue fur was the same golden yellow Rio had when she was a Riolu. "Cario!" Rio pressed her paws together and apart to reveal a bone in her hand. She rushed up towards Malamar with it and started to hit it repeatedly.

"That's Bone Rush!" I recognized the move.

"That's great Rio! Now change it up and use Aura Sphere!" Scarlett cheered.

"Ca!" Rio jumped back from beating up Malamar with a bone. She moved the bone from both hands into one and used the other one to charged up an Aura Sphere. She released it and it blasted into Malamar.

"Mar." Malamar fainted with swirls in its eyes.

"Hmm. I lost." Essentia returned her pokémon. "But your pokémon are all I need!"

"Ri!" Rio suddenly ran towards Essentia in a rush of speed. She quickly swept her paw on Essentia's helmet.

"Rio!" Scarlett scolded.

"Arg! Error! Error! Error!" Sparks appeared around Essentia. She crouched down and clenched her helmet. "Malfunction! Malfunction!"

"Espurr!" an Espurr ran into the alley.

"Argh! Shutting down! Shutting down! Shutting do-" the screen on Essentia's helmet turned black as she slumped over.

"Is she?" I started.

The screen turned back on. Essentia stood back up straight. She took off her helmet and long curly black hair fell down.

"How did I get here?" Emma looked around.

"Es! Purr!" Espurr jumped up and down.

"Mimi?" Emma looked down at it. "Oh! Who are you?" she looked at us.

"Um, we were walking in the alley when you jumped in front of us and battled us." I explained. I gestured towards Rio and Arckee for emphasis.

"Oh! This stupid suit! I really need to fix that stupid mode!" Emma stomped her foot.

"Excuse me? Mode?" Scarlett interrupted.

"Yes! Mode!" Emma nodded. "See, I got this suit as a gift, but there are some glitches with it. One of them was with one of the modes, 'Battle'. The battle mode allows me enough knowledge and strength to do some battles. but it can go haywire sometimes and the suit reverts back to its original settings."

"Which is stealing other people's pokémon?" I asked.

"Sorta. It's complicated." Emma shrugged.

"We can see." Scarlett noted.

"Sorry if I bothered you." Emma bowed down in apology.

"It's fine." I waved it off. "We should really get going then." I returned Arckee.

"Yeah. Bye!" Scarlett said as she returned Sol and Rio.

We walked out of the alley and quickly into other one. We called out our flying pokémon and took off to the sky.

"Weirdest mission ever?" Scarlett's voice came through the earpiece.

"Totally." I nodded.

Weird? Yes. Worth it? Definitely. For Scarlett at least. For me? I don't know what the hell it was for.

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

"So, let me get this right, you only wanted us to go on that mission to get me out of the house?" I looked at my dad.

"Seems about right." he nodded.

"Why the hell would you even do that?!" I yelled.

"You've been in our room all day for the past week so I needed something to get you out." he rubbed his ear.

"I train! That counts as being outside!" I crossed my arms.

"Yes, but you need to relax." he countered.

"Relax? You thought a mission would be relaxing?" I raised a brow.

"You got to relax a bit didn't you?" he asked me.

"Yeah I did. Rio did get something out of it too, but that was a sneaky thing to do." I huffed.

"So? I'm your father. I'm supposed to make sure you get active." he said before walking away.

 _Is it just me or is he more laid back after the boys left?_ Rio asked as she popped out of her pokéball.

"No, you're right. And he's only that way because there's no boys to harass me. Or be near me." I sighed.

 _You mean Calem?_ Rio smirked.

"Shut up." I muttered as I felt my face heat up. I walked away from the empty living room with Rio and Pika and towards the elevator.

I went up to my room to quickly get changed in some more active clothes. I had on a red sport bra, black active shorts, and white bandages wrapped around my hands and feet. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and grabbed a towel and bottle of water on my way out.

I locked my door and went up to the dojo. Yes, the house has a dojo. Hey, my dad designed this place, not me. But I did find some use for it. Mainly aura training.

"Alright, Rio. Since you're fully evolved now, it's time for you to get used to your new enhanced aura." I threw my towel on one of the benches, placed my water bottle on it, and stepped on one of the mats.

 _Really? You're going to teach me now? I thought I was the one who taught you?_ Rio looked at me.

"Yes, but I now know everything about it. There's a thing as the internet where I learned about Sir Aaron. Somehow, he visited me in my sleep with his own Lucario and taught me everything I need to know about aura." I explained.

 _How-?_

"Don't ask me. I don't even know." I stopped her. "Now," I took a battle stance. "Give me your best shot."

 _Okay._ Rio set her feet apart and charged up an Aura Sphere in both of her paws. Unfortunately, when she released it, it went wild. Good thing the dojo is padded.

I narrowed my eyes as the Aura Sphere came towards me. I raised my arms and defected it with a simple shield. The Aura Sphere bounced off and lost the energy.

 _Okay, so I might need some help._ Rio grinned sheepishly.

"Yes you do." I smiled. "If you want to Mega Evolve, than that involves controlling your aura even more. If you can't control your aura when you're a Lucario, than you can't handle Mega Evolution."

 _Than I'll train harder!_ Lucario grinned.

"That's the spirit! The good thing is, as a Lucario, you'll also be able to control your aura better." I nodded.

 _Than what are we waiting for? Let's get going!_ Lucario took a battle stance.

"Pika!" I looked over and saw Pika in a pink cheerleading outfit with tiny pink pompoms in her paws. I looked next to her to see Sol in a similar outfit with a pompom on her horn. I also saw Char, Tor, and Saur next to them is similar cheerleading outfits, though they were more masculine, thank Arceus, yet they were still holding pompoms.

 _That's the spirit guys!_ Rio cheered.

"Why do I even bother?" I facepalmed.

* * *

 **Leaf's POV**

"Hey guys! How's it going?" I asked the boys as the screen booted up.

"Hi Nee-san. We're doing fine." Argent greeted.

"How's things over there?" Nate asked.

We heard a loud thump as some small pieces of plaster fell down from the ceiling.

"What was that?" Hilbert asked.

"Ashley's doing some intense training again." Hilda answered.

"Doesn't she ever take a break?" Rald sighed.

"You know her. She likes to work hard." Rosa explained.

"She needs to take it easy sometimes. She's going to tire herself out." Calem commented.

"Red actually sent us on a mission to get her to relax." Kristee added.

"You're kidding me?" Ethan looked skeptical.

"She's not kidding. I heard the entire meeting." Amber confirmed Kristee's claim.

"Amber? You? Eavesdrop?" I looked shocked at her.

"Well, Red had the door open and I was walking pass on my way to the kitchen." Amber looked down at her feet.

"Amber, relax, I'm only kidding." I patted her back. "Back on topic, you all know why we're here, without Ashley."

"Leaf, is this necessary?" Calem asked.

"Yes! Red is hiding something and it involves our friend! We need to find out the whole entire truth! Right now, we only have just a puzzle piece for it!" I exclaimed.

"I am so glad that Red is out on one of his patrols all the way in Unova." Kristee mumbled.

"To shut Leaf up, have you guys found out anything over at the academy?" Hilda asked.

"Yes. Yes we did." Ethan nodded.

"What is it?" Rosa asked.

"Turns out, all of Ash's friends goes to the academy. Including Ash himself." Argent answered.

"You're kidding me." my jaw dropped.

"Nope. Rald and Nate has homeroom with a kid named Max who is May's little brother." Ethan explained.

"Ethan, Argent, and I have homeroom with Serena and Barry, though I heard they're going to be skipping up to Ash and the others next year." Hilbert explained.

"And I have class with Ash, Gary, Dawn, May, Lucas, and Brendan." Calem finished.

"What a coincidence." Amber noted.

"This is our chance! We can get more information out of them." I exclaimed.

"Leaf, calm down." Kristee pushed me back down into my seat. "We can't just charge head on into this. We have to think strategically."

"What do you suggest?" Argent asked.

"The academy has records of everybody who registered or registered other people. They should have a copy of Red's records if he has any. You guys go and check those out along with anything that might seems helpful and tell us at the next meeting." Kristee instructed.

"While you do that, the other girls and I will check into the different legendary pokémon. If Ashley was able to lose her memories, than it had to be something really traumatic and a pokémon must have been involved." she finished.

"That's an interesting hypothesis." Amber noted. "But we just can't go out and search for legendaries."

"We can if Red isn't here and we're very careful." Hilda countered. "Than we can finally fit the pieces together."

"Sounds good." I nodded. "See you later guys!" I turned off the screen and closed the laptop.

"Do you think we will really figure out her history?" Rosa asked.

"I hope so." I told her. I really hope so. Not just for us, but she deserves to know as well. Even if she hates us.

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

"Rio, we can't just go out and look for a Lucarionite." I told her.

 _But why not? We did some major training today and I think I got the hang of my new aura._ she replied.

"Just because you can control it doesn't mean you have mastered it." I shook my head.

 _Are you really one to talk?_ Rio raised a brow.

"I know that unlike you, who has been working with aura for your entire life, I only found out a few months ago. But I was chosen by Sir Aaron himself to be trained forehand by him and his Lucario." I said.

 _In a dream._ Rio added.

"Yes, in a dream, but when I tried it out the next day, I have mastered it." I pronounced every syllable in that last part.

 _How do you know?_ Rio asked.

"You want to test it out yourself? Come at me." I stood in a battle stance.

 _You sure?_ Rio looked skeptical.

"Yeah. Give me your best shot." I narrowed my eyes.

 _You asked for it._ Rio disappeared in a black and gold blur as she used her aura to make herself faster.

I closed my eyes and let my aura take over. I saw five bright blue auras near the benches, which were my pokémon in their cheerleading outfits, and one shining blue one zigzagging around the room.

Now that I found her, I focused my aura more and tried to predict where she was heading. I saw her aura's movement slow down as I took in every detail. I stepped to the right as Rio tried to tackle me. She tried again, but I stepped to the left. Rio tried to get me with a quick punch. I leaned back to avoid it and jumped up to avoid a kick.

I saw her ran back around to confuse me. If she thinks that's going to work, she got another thing coming. She came towards me with an aura boosted tackle, but I stepped to the side, turned around, and grabbed her wrist. While she was distracted, I bent her arm around her back.

 _Alright! Uncle! Uncle!_ she cried.

"I thought so." I smirked as I opened my eyes. I let go of her arm and she rubbed her wrist.

 _I guess I do have a thing or thing to learn from you. Sir Aaron did teach you well._ Rio said as she sat down on the bench.

"Not really. He only showed me the techniques. I had to master them myself." I said as I sat down next to her. I grabbed my towel and wiped my head with it. I squirted some water from my water bottle and into my mouth.

"Pi pikapi?" Pika asked as she hopped into my lap.

"I guess all of you are tired?" I asked my pokémon. They nodded.

 _Why are all of you tired? All you did was stand there and shouted._ Rio retorted.

"If I recall, you were the one who encouraged them to do it." I pointed out. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it.

"Alright guys. it's late, you're tired, Rio's tired, I'm tired. Let's head back to my room." I said as I returned everyone except for Pika, Sol, and Rio. They were the only ones small enough to walk around freely.

I grabbed my stuff and took the elevator down to my room. I took a quick shower and changed into a gray silk pajama top with black pajama shorts. When I walked back into my room, I saw Sol resting at the foot of my bed with Pika in her bed and Rio leaning against the balcony door.

"How does it feel?" I asked her.

 _What?_ she looked at me. _Oh. It feels weird. I know my aura is better and we had a lot of training with that, but since I'm part steel type now, I feel heavier. Although I feel quicker._

"I think you're confusing yourself." I told her.

 _I do too. But at the same time, I feel so much better. I just need to get used to this new body._ Rio smiled at me.

"We'll do some training tomorrow." I told her as I walked back to my bed. "You too, Sol. We need to work on your combos."

"Ab?" Sol raised her head up. She stood up from the floor and jumped on the bed. She curled up at my feet as I got in. Pika got up from her bed and into my lap. As she got settled, I caught Rio looking at me.

"Oh no. This bed is already crowded and the bed will break if a steel type like you hop on." I told her.

 _You're no fun._ she pouted. Rio settled for sitting next to my nightstand and leaning against the bedstand.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned off the lights. I let my head rest on my pillow and closed my I'm lucky. Sir Aaron and his stoic Lucario won't give me another visit tonight.

 _Ready for another lesson?_

Oh come on!

 _Believe me, this was his idea, not mines._

* * *

 **Okay people! How do you like that? We're almost to the part where everyone is going to be together!**

 **I'll let you choose who said which at the end!**

 **I even included a lot of in-game references in there! Personally, I love Emma's storyline! And yay! Rio evolved! Finally!**

 **As I said, here are the translations!**

 **Bonjour- Hello/Good morning**

 **Oui- Yes**

 **Nous voulons deux cafés au lait, un croissant, une baguette avec du beurre et de la confiture, deux omelettes, et du bacon, s'il vous plaît- We would like two coffees with milk, a croissant, a baguette with some butter and some jam, two omelets, and some bacon, please**

 **Tout suite- Right away**

 **Viola- Ta-da**

 **Votre petite-déjuené** **\- Your breakfast**

 **Merci- Thank you**

 **De rien- You're welcome**

 **So there's a bit of French for all of you right there. Trust me, I'm going to include some more in the future, but I'll give translations! Don't you worry!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	19. Discovering Presents

**Hello everyone! Surprise Surprise! An early update!**

 **I know I'm supposed to update this weekend, but this week end is just so hectic. My school's homecoming is coming up and I'm helping out with a lot of things and not to mention things for my class as well. So long story short, I can't update this weekend and I'm deciding to doing it now! Friday also isn't a good day for me to update.**

 **I actually meant to update last weekend, but I just didn't get to. Last week was also as hectic for me. my entire town actually. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. Anyways, on to the reviews!**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Thanks for your review! I'm trying my best with this little mixture and I'm all not that good with handling multiple shippings yet, but I assure you, Benevolentshipping will be in there as well as Adoreshipping! And you just have to wait and read to find out!**

 **That's it. Yeah, only one this time, but it's totally fine! I'm blabbering too much now. Let's get on with the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: AKCC does not own any part of Pokemon at all. Only her OCs. The original works from where the references she makes to are not hers as well.**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

 **Amber's POV**

"Leaf, tell me, how did you find this island?" I asked her as the other girls and I rode on top of Ditty who was currently a Wailord.

"Yeah. I would like to know that too." Hilda added. "When we woke up, you dragged us out here on Ditty saying that we're going to an island we never went to before."

"It's a funny story actually." Leaf giggled.

"How funny?" Rosa asked.

"You're going to laugh when you hear this. "Leaf smiled. "So, I was just speeding across the water on Blasty with my Silph Scopes on," she held up a pair of thick lensed glasses with wires sticking out of it. "When the scopes picked up something. I followed the signal until we literally ran into a rock wall. Turns out, there were loads of hidden gems in the cave island which is undiscovered and uninhabited so I thought it would be a good idea if we go there to find Christmas gifts for the boys and a birthday gift for little Argent!"

"For once, the girl has a sane thought." Kristee commented.

"Compared to her idea to send Argent dresses for his birthday, than I agree." Ashley nodded.

"It's still a bit early don't you think? Both Christmas and his birthday is still a long time away. It's the first day of December." I pointed out.

"Amber, have you ever been shopping during the holidays?" Rosa asked.

"No, but-"I got cut off by Hilda.

"Than you don't know how busy and competitive it gets. Since Rosa and I lived in Unova, it's even worse. One year, a woman's finger got bit off since she stole another woman's parking spot." Hilda explained.

"Okay. Getting gifts early without spending anything suddenly sounds very good to me." I nearly threw up at the thought of losing a finger.

"We're here!" Leaf announced as she pointed to an island with several mountains on it.

Ditty let us off on the small piece of land that wasn't covered in rocks and turned back into Leaf's hat.

"Should we split up?" Ashley asked.

"No. There are miles of caves and we could get lost." Kristee pointed out.

"Yeah, but we got earpieces that can work as long as one of us are near each other." Ashley countered.

"And we can find more gems and stones that way." Leaf added.

"What about a compromise than?" Hilda suggested. "We split into teams of three so they can cover more ground while also being near each other."

"Great idea!" Rosa commented.

"So how are going to pick who with whom?" I asked.

"Easy. Ashley and Hilda are on my team while you, Kris, and Rosa are on another team." Leaf said.

"Not sure if that's fair." Ashley pointed out.

"It's fine though." Kristee said. "We've been hanging out with our partners for a long time now, so this will be a breath of fresh air."

"Than it's settled. Let's go team!" Leaf dragged Ashley and Hilda into one of the cave entrances.

"Guess we're going in this one than." Rosa pointed to a cave entrance different from the one the others just took.

Kristee, Rosa, and I entered the cave and I let Chuchu out to shed some light. I also let Gravvy out so he can sense anything in the cave. Kristee let out Bonee and Arckee so we can have some warmth in the cold cave while also having Bonee sense any quakes or anything. Rosa let out her Candela-chan to light up our way even more and Raika-chan for some back up if Chuchu or Candela-chan get tired.

Chuchu was taking a ride on Raika-chan so they led the way along with Candela-chan who was floating next to them. Bonee was sitting on top Arckee's back while Gravvy walked side by side to me. We walked around for a while until Bonee found something.

"Cu? Bone! Bone!" Bonee hopped off of Arckee and pointed his Thick Club at a spot in the cave wall.

"Gol! Lem!" Gravvy also poked at the spot.

"What are you guys-? Ack!" Rosa covered her face as the both of suddenly dug into the spot. I covered my face as dirt flew everywhere.

"Bone! Cubone!" Bonee held up two stones. One was small and was rainbow colored while the other one was much larger and was green with dark green and orange flame-like swirls in the middle of it.

"What are those?" Rosa asked.

"Looks like that's a Key Stone and a Mega Stone. But which one?" Kristee explained.

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"Ashley has a Key Stone." she answered. "She has it in a locket she wears all the time while her Char, Saur, and Tor all have Mega Stones. Calem has them too if you forgot."

"Oh yeah! I did forget. He never really send his pokémon out to play, only to train, so it's understandable that most of us would forget." Rosa said.

"Let's see if Ashley knows which Mega Stone this is." I picked picked the Key Stone and Mega Stone. I turned on my earpiece and spoke into it. "Ashley, you there?"

"I'm here. what do you need Am?" she replied, saying my nickname.

"We just found a Key Stone and a Mega Stone, but we don't know which one it is." I explained.

"You found a Key Stone and a Mega Stone? That's amazing! All we found so far are just evolutionary stones." Ashley replied. "What does the Mega Stone look like?"

"It's green with a dark green and an orange swirl in the middle." I described it.

"Sounds like a Sceptilite to me." Ashley answered.

"A Sceptilite?" Kristee joined our conversation.

"Yeah. It lets a Sceptile to Mega Evolve, but with all Mega Evolutions, you need to have a strong bond with your pokémon." Ashley explained.

"Wait, Rald has a Sceptile! And I'm pretty sure he's close to it. I can give this to him for a Christmas present!" I exclaimed.

"Good for you Amber." Ashley said. "Sorry, I got to go. Leaf just found something." the earpiece crackled as Ashley turned it off.

"We got one gift done. Let's see if we can anything else." Rosa suggested.

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

"What is it, Leaf?" I asked as I ran up to her and Hilda.

"Look at what I just found!" Leaf squealed as she held out her hands to us. A small rainbow orb was in one hand while a larger stone was in the other. The stone was gray with a dark blue and brown flame in the middle.

"That's a Key Stone and a Blastoisinite!" I identified it.

"So that means your Blasty can Mega Evolve now?" Hilda asked.

"Yes! And I'm so happy!" Leaf jumped up and down in happiness.

"Wow. This island really is something. Amber told me that she found another Key Stone and a Sceptilite." I commented.

 _Do you think we'll find a Lucarionite or an Absolite for me and Sol?_ Rio popped out of her pokéball along with Sol.

"Guess they're excited to find their own Mega Stones?" Hilda asked.

"Yeah. They're really excited about it." I said sheepishly.

"Come on! Let see if we can find any other for us and the boys!" Leaf placed the stones in her bag and motioned us to follow her deeper in the cave.

Pika was taking a ride on Sol while Hilda had Dorothy out so she can sense anything in the caves and Leaf had Nidory out to help dig anything else out.

We already had several sets of evolutionary stones that none of us need, but will look pretty in our rooms. Than there's the Mega Stone and Key Stone Leaf found with the help of Nidory.

 _Wait a minute, I sense something with a strong aura here._ Rio pointed to a large rock.

"Rio are you-"I got cut off when Rio fired an Aura Sphere at the rock. The rock broke and in the debris, were two Mega Stones. One was a light blue color with a midnight blue and white flame design in the middle while the other one was a golden color with a teal and dark red swirl in the middle.

"Ab! Absol!" Sol cheered.

 _See? What did I tell you?_ Rio smirked at me.

"So we did find a Lucarionite and an Absolite here after all." I said as I picked up the Mega Stones and placed them in my bag.

"See? This cave is lucky!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Not sure if it's lucky, but more like filled with treasures." Hilda gestured to her bag filled with type gems and evolutionary stones.

"But let's just see if we can find more! I have a feeling Argent's best birthday present ever will be here!" Leaf squealed.

"And to be sure, that present is from all of us?" I asked.

"Duh! Even though I normally take all the credit for things like this, I want to share it with all of you since this place is so awesome!" Leaf explained.

 _Not sure if that was supposed to be insulting or reassuring._ Rio commented.

"Let's just go in further." I suggested. "Since Leaf, Argent, Rald, Calem, and I, the latter two already having Mega Stones and Key Stones, are the only ones who have pokémon able to Mega Evolve, we have to find more presents for the others."

"But we got Leaf and Rald down. All we need is to find a Mega Stone and Key Stone for Argent." Hilda pointed out.

"Which one of his pokémon can Mega Evolve?" Leaf asked.

"His Gyarados. It can Mega Evolve using a Gyaradosite." I answered.

"Than let's go find it!" Leaf dragged Hilda and I off with our pokémon chasing after us.

* * *

"Argh, where are we?" Leaf complained.

"Well, if you just slowed down and paid attention to where you were going instead of dragging us around everywhere, than we wouldn't be lost!" Hilda exclaimed.

"Guys, let's just calm down and take a rest." I got between them. "We didn't have a big breakfast this morning and I'm sure the lack of food and water is making our brains go haywire."

 _Are you sure that's it?_ Rio asked. _Personally, I think it's being in such a small space for over three hours._

Three hours? We've been in here for that long? "Hey Leaf, does my dad know we're in here? I asked her as I got out several bags of berries.

"Totally. I told Red earlier this morning." Leaf said as I handed her a bag of berries.

"How early this morning?" Hilda asked as she took another bag from me.

"While he was sleeping." Leaf admitted.

"Did you at least leave him a note?" I sighed.

"Yes I did. On the nightstand." Leaf nodded as she popped another Pecha Berry in her mouth.

"So you did do something smart today." Hilda muttered.

I gave Rio, Sol, Pika, Dorothy, and Nidory some berries and we all ate in peace. The atmosphere has calmed down which I am thankful for. Though I do have a feeling that something else is about to happen.

 _Hey Ashley._ Rio jabbed me in my ribs.

"Rio, that hurts. A lot. What do you want?" I glared at my pokémon while everyone else was busy.

 _For our Mega Stones._ Rio gestured to Sol and herself. _Can you make something to hold it in? We don't want something cheaply made brought from a store._

"Don't worry about it. I made Char's, Saur's, and Tor's collars/bands myself. I'm planning on making a belt for you while making Sol a collar." I told her quietly.

 _Sounds good to us!_ Rio smiled as Sol nodded. _I was just making sure._

"Why do you ever doubt me and why did you jab me that hard?" I rubbed my ribs in the spot where she maybe broke a rib.

 _I still have to work on my power._ Rio rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"No kidding." I sighed.

After eating and drinking plenty of water, Leaf, Hilda, and I decided to rest up for a bit more before continuing. But Leaf had to ruin it.

"So Hilda," Uh oh. Leaf had that look on her face again. You know, the one before she makes anyone she talks to want to hide their face in a pillow and die.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"What's going on with you and Hilbert? I haven't heard much action going between the two of you." Leaf went on.

"What 'action'? We're only friends!" Hilda exclaimed.

"Come on!" Leaf whined. "Even Rosa and Nate sees it! You like him!"

"I don't like him!" Hilda screamed.

 _Ow!_ Rio complained as a rock fell on her head.

"Ab!" Sol also complained as two rocks fell on her head.

"Ka!" Pika cried when she was pelted with rocks from above.

I looked up and saw that cracks were appearing on the cave ceiling.

"Um? Guys?" I tried to get their attention.

"Sorry Hilda, but I will make agencyshipping happen!" Leaf cheered.

"Agencyshipping? That is never going to happen!" Hilda yelled.

When she did, the crack got bigger and more rocks began to rain down.

"Guys?" I tried to get their attention again.

"You can't stop me! I already got mangaquestshipping and adoreshipping down!" Leaf exclaimed.

I knew it! She is so going to pay for trying to get me and Calem together. Kristee and Ethan? Eh, I might help her with that a bit. But now is not the time to think about that.

I spotted large pieces of the cave starting to fall down.

"Guys!" I yelled.

"What?" they yelled back.

"Move!" I grabbed their arms as Rio, Sol and the other pokémon grabbed our stuff. I dragged them down the cave, nearly avoiding the collapsed part we were just in.

"Is everyone okay?" I coughed after the kicked up dust settled a bit.

 _We're okay!_ Rio gave me a paws-up with Sol and Pika next to her.

"Thanks for saving us." Leaf thanked me.

"Yeah. We were so busy arguing, we could've been killed." Hilda added.

"To be fair, it was because of your arguing that caused us to almost be crushed." I pointed out.

"Sorry about that." they both said sheepishly.

"It's fine." I waved it off. "Let's just head out."

"Wait a minute, I see something." Hilda stopped us.

"What is it?" Leaf asked as Hilda dug through the rubble.

"Aha!" Hilda pulled out two gleaming stones. One was a Key Stone while the other was a Mega Stone that was primarily a dark yellow if not for the blue and red swirl design in the middle.

"Another Key Stone?" I asked. "And that's a Gyaradosite!"

"Really?" Leaf's eyes sparkled. "Yay! Now we have a present for all the boys!"

"Finally. We're done searching." Hilda sighed as she gave the Key Stone and Mega Stone to Leaf.

"When we get back to the house, I can make something for everybody to hold it in." I offered.

"Really?" Leaf asked. "You can do that?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Since you're the only girl with a Key Stone other than me, I can make you a Mega Locket like mines." I pulled mines out to show her.

"What about for the boys?" Hilda asked

"I think I can make a Mega Bracelet similar to Calem's." I thought about it. "I can also make accessories for the pokémon too. It's not that hard. I made them for Char, Saur, and Tor already."

"I wonder how you're able to make all of them?" Leaf asked.

"It's not that hard." I shrugged. Suddenly, I heard something below our feet crack.

"Did you guys also here that?" Hilda asked.

"Y-aah!" we screamed as the floor below us crumbled. I saw Rio and Sol retreat back into their pokeballs on my belt while Pika dug her claws in my shoulder. Dorothy and Nidory also retreated back in their pokeballs. Lucky pokémon!

"Eeeekkk!" we heard screaming above us. I looked up to see Amber, Kristee, and Rosa fall down as well as several red lights were sucked in the pokeballs on their belts.

"W-water!" Hilda and Rosa pointed below us. I looked down and they were right. There was water. And we were headed towards it fast!

"Ditty!" Leaf threw Ditty towards the water as he transformed back into his blob.

"Dit! Ditto!" Ditty transformed into a floating bouncy house.

"Wah! we all screamed as we landed in the bouncy house. After two bounces, Ditty transformed into a Wailord and we were all safely on him.

"Oh thank Arceus. I thought I was going to die." Kristee sighed.

"What are the chances that both groups would fall down the same hole at the exact same time?" Amber asked.

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out." I shook my head. "Let's just head back to the house."

* * *

After we stepped off of Ditty, who quickly transformed back into Leaf's hat, I heard the flap of thick leathery wings.

Oh boy. This isn't going to end well.

The sound got louder and louder until a red figure dangling from something gray came into view.

"Leaf? I thought you left him a note!" I hissed at her as I turned around to her.

"I did!" Leaf said. "I just put it on the nightstand in my room."

"What?!" everyone else exclaimed.

"All I said was that I put it on the nightstand. I never said which nightstand." Leaf said sheepishly.

We are all going to be big trouble.

I heard a loud landing behind me. I felt a glare at my back while the other girls were looking scared at who was behind me. Reluctantly, I turned around. Only to meet the angry glare of my father with his fierce looking Aero behind him.

"Allison, do you want to tell me where were you girls?" Dad growled.

Damn it, he used my full name. He must be really angry.

"Let me begin by saying,"I paused. "It was all Leaf's fault! She woke us up early and dragged us on Ditty before I could realize what was going on! If you're going to blame anybody, blame her!"

"What?!" Leaf looked at me. but it was too late. The other girls and I were already hiding behind Aero.

This isn't going to end well.

* * *

"And, I am done." I set down the collar on my table.

 _Are they ready yet?_ Rio asked. She's been asking that every five minutes for two hours.

"Yes, they're finally ready." I nodded as I looked over by my door way.

 _Yes!_ Rio cheered as Sol followed in after her.

Ever since we got back from that island a week ago, Leaf has been 'grounded' while I have been working on those accessories for the Key Stone and Mega Stones. I finished the gifts the boys were going to get first while I did Leaf's next. When they were done, I worked on the ones for my own pokémon.

"I just need to put the stones in." I said as I pulled out the two Mega Stones from my bag. I grabbed the Lucarionite and placed it in a metal band belt detailed with several spheres and waves to symbolize the aura Rio can use. I placed the Absolite in the middle of a metal rose crafted on a collar detailed with several petals floating around, symbolizing the graceful movements Sol has when she's battling.

 _When can we try them out?_ Rio asked.

"Tomorrow. It's already late and I'm tired." I said as I placed Sol's Mega Collar on around her neck. The metal rose was shining through her white fur with the Absolite gleaming in the middle of it. I set the collar so the rose was sticking more out on her left side, opposite from her horn.

 _Come on. It's not that much hard work._ Rio complained.

"Alright fine. But right after that, I'm going to sleep." I said as I placed Rio's Mega Belt around her waist. It was in a spot where she can still freely move her body, but the Lucarionite still showed through brightly.

 _Can I go first than?_ Rio asked.

"No. Since you were bothering me while I was making these, you get to go after Sol." I said as I got my Mega Locket from under my pajama shirt. I find it easier to work if I'm in comfortable clothes.

"Ab! Absol!" Sol was clearly excited about this.

"May our hearts connect as one! Sol! Mega Evolve!" I placed my hand over my locket. Bright light erupted from both the locket and the collar on Sol. Soon, she was in a shell of pink energy and when it broke, she was a Mega Absol. Her fur on her back grew out and were styled to look like wings. Her horn on the right side of her face grew bigger while a smaller horn grew on the left side of her face. The fur around her head grew longer until her right eye was covered by a bang that reached her chin.

"Absol!" Sol cried out.

 _That looks awesome!_ Rio exclaimed.

"So how does it feel, girl?" I asked her.

"Absol!" Sol smiled at me.

"That's great." I smiled back. I touched the locket again and Sol reverted back into a regular Absol.

 _My turn next?_ Rio asked.

"Yes it is." I turned towards her. "May our hearts connect as one! Rio! Mega Evolve!" I clasped a hand over my locket again and the same pink energy shell covered Rio. When it broke, Rio kept her shiny coloring, but the ends of her paws and feet changed to a dull red while her blue fur around her chest and waist grew longer. The appendages on her head grew longer with the ends the same dull red. More spikes appeared on her feet and her paws.

 _Wow! This feels amazing!_ Rio gasped as she took in her new form for the first time.

"Yes, it should." I touched my locket again and Rio reverted back to her original self. "Now, I'm going to sleep."

 _Aw. Can't we do it one more time?_

"No! I'm tired! Let your trainer sleep!"

* * *

 **Leaf's POV**

Yay! It's Christmas Eve and we're going to talk to the boys! On a screen of course.

"Alright girls, it's all set up now." Red said as he connected the wide-screen TV to Kristee's laptop.

"Hi! Merry Christmas!" the boys' faces' showed up on the TV

"Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Argent!" the girls and I chorused.

"Did you get your gifts?" Amber asked.

"Got them this morning!" all of them held up a box, each with different wrapping paper to show which one was whose. Calem was wrapped in royal blue paper with a large white bow on top. Ethan's was a metallic gold with a black ribbon tied on top. Argent's was the same but with silver wrapping paper. Amber found some metallic green wrapping paper for Rald's gift while Hilbert got a black box with no bow on top. Nate was a bit luckier since his was still a black box, but had an electric blue bow on top.

"Did you get our gifts?" Hilbert asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if buying each of us an electric motor scooter was a good idea." Kristee gestured to the six scooters that were currently in the tech room with us.

"Hey, we paid good money for those!" Ethan exclaimed.

"We're on an island, where are we going to ride them?" Ashley pointed out.

"She does have a point." Rald commented.

"Whatever." Argent rolled his eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

"You guys can open your presents now." Hilda nodded. "I'm sure you're going to be happy with your gifts!"

On the screen the only thing I could see was a flurry of torn wrapping paper covering the camera. When it cleared, I could see that they all had opened the boxes.

"How do you like your new Mega Bracelet and Mega Stone, Argent?" I asked him.

"Nee-san, these are so rare, where did you find them?" he asked.

"Actually, I found them, but Leaf did show us the island where they were." Hilda corrected.

"Hey! I got one too!" Rald put on his Mega Bracelet on his left wrist under his sleeve.

"There's also accessories to put on your pokémon with their Mega Stones!" Rosa added.

"They looked cool. Where did you find them?" Calem asked as he looked at the collar Ashley made for Argent's Gyarados.

"I made them all." Ashley spoke up. "I also made a set for Leaf as well."

I have to give her credit for that. I looked down at the Mega Locket she made me. It looked the same as hers, but instead of a red ring outlining the Key Stone, she placed a blue ring on. She also made a band to put on Blasty's left cannon.

"You made them? Nice." Hilbert admired them.

"Rald, you got a Sceptilite for your Spectile while Argent has a Gyradosite for his Gyarados. Everyone else got a complete set of evolutionary stones and a complete set of type gems." Ashley explained.

I have to say, this is the best Christmas we will ever have. And that's all because of Ashley. I just hope it can stay that way.

* * *

 **Well that chapter is done and over with. So it seems like everyone in the group got Mega Stones for those who are able to. Hmm. I wonder how this will fit in with the rest of the story?**

 **Other then that, nothing much happens. But it's important to set up the rest of the story so yeah. I still hope all of you like it though!**

 **An update is still scheduled for TPTI though! I will not let that slip through my mind! I will drop everything I'm doing and do that! Just watch me! If my college class doesn't take up too much of my time.**

 **By he way, that little story of a woman getting her finger bitten off as based off of a true story I heard from my teacher that happened at a local mall near my town on a Friday not too long ago.**

 **That's it for this update! And don't forget to review! I love to hear from all of you!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	20. Birthday Mayhem

**I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday (for those of you in the states) since my life has been hectic for the last two weeks.**

 **I got Pokemon Sun and Moon, but I have to wait until Christmas to play it. It may seem a long time now, but with my schedule, then it will fly by. I'm glad that we have Trainer Customization back with the added feature of dying the clothes, but I wish the official names for the player characters come out already! However, I'm think about either Artemis, Lilo, Luna, or Yue for the name of the female player character wen I play it. What do you think? Which one is your favorite?**

 **So I managed to get some more progress on this story, but about half of it isn't proofread yet and I still have a story I have yet to collaborate on. (Still sorry!) I may be on a four day weekend right on, but AP work has me busy and my final for my college class is coming up.**

 **I shouldn't keep talking. Let's just get to the chapter. By the way, this chapter is the final one before the real story I've been aiming for begin. But here are the reviews!**

 **.18: (Ch 19) I know about their new outfits, but I don't think I'm going to change them. I don't care, AshxYellow is still happening. I personally don't like Amourshipping since Pearlshipping is my OTP. But that's my own personal opinion. (Ch 13) Their pasts aren't the same as in the mangaverse since I'm combining all three verses together so there will be things hat are similar and things that are different. And the Orre region is there. I might since it is one of his pokemon now, but I have a lot written so you might now see it for a while now.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Just you wait! There's going to be a lot going on in the story! And it's Ash we're talking about. So there's going to be a lot of that.**

 **Disclaimer: AKCC does not own any parts of Pokemon nor the works she references to from time to time (I have to put this here since I forget which ones I put in here. And there's a lot.)**

* * *

Chapter Twenty

 **Ashley's POV**

"Dad! Enough with the gifts! I don't even need the car! I'm only turning 17 today! I'm not able to drive yet!" I shouted over the pokégear.

"Come on. This is your first birthday you're spending with me ever since your tenth." Dad said.

"And yet, you're off picking up the boys." I pointed out.

"Err. Yeah. That's true, but when we come home, we'll have a big party for you." Dad countered.

"Dad, I don't want a big party. It would feel weird." I crinkled up my nose.

"I've missed your Sweet 16, but I'm not missing your 17th without a big bang. See you when I get back." Dad said before he hung up.

I sighed. Here, they always celebrate birthdays in a big way. After Argent's birthday, Amber's birthday was next and since she was turning 16, Leaf wanted to throw her a giant party complete with a trip to the Viridian Forest, which she did. Than it was Hilda's 16th birthday where she wanted 4 Elites to perform for her since they were her clients. After that, Hilbert who held a battle tournament between the boys.

Than Calem who was turning 17, making him the oldest, who wanted nothing big, but he sent me a little note and gift despite it being his birthday. A little over a week after his birthday, Kristee was next and she was turning 16, so she wanted us to visit New Bark Town to listen to a lecture by Professor Elm.

Then it was the twins, Rosa and Nate who were turning 14. Since this was the first birthday they're spending after the downfall of Team Plasma and separate, Hilda organized a concert by Christoph and Nancy for Rosa and Nate respectively, even though they were in different places.

Today's my birthday while Rald's, who would be turning 15, will be a little bit over a week away, Leaf's would be directly after his and it's going to be big since she's turning 17.

"Hey, Ashley, are you sure you don't want 4 Elites to perform at your party?" Hilda asked as she poked her head in my room. "They won't mind performing for us."

"No. I don't. Really." I shook my head.

"Okay then." Hilda shrugged. "Leaf! You can stop making those 4 Elites merchandise now! They're not able to sign them! Ashley doesn't want them to perform!" she shouted down the hall.

I shook my head as I opened the doors to the balcony. I took a deep breath of the fresh air. I placed my hand under my chin and leaned against the railing, my elbow sitting on top of it.

I watched below as the girls were getting the pool and barbeque ready. They thought, for my first birthday with them, they throw something simple: a combined pool party and barbecue. I found it nice because it was low-key, but my dad sending me presents also every hour isn't really helping. My room is filled with the presents he sent me. The new red car he brought me was just sitting in a garage he added to the house when the boys got us the scooters.

I haven't seen the boys in person ever since they left for that school at the beginning of August. Sure, they chat with us on our computers, but it wasn't just the same.

I heard the distant sound of chopping blades and looked up to see Dad's helicopter descending near the battlefields. Finally! They're back!

 _Where are you-?_

Before Rio could finish, I returned her and Sol into their pokéball before scooping up Pika in my arms and jumping off of my balcony.

I landed on a branch of the Cheri blossom tree that was in full bloom. When I did, several petals fell off and landed in the already large pile under the tree.

"Pi!" Pika cried out as I jumped from branch to branch until I landed on the ground. I walked up to the helicopter as it was landing while the other girls were doing the same. When it touched the ground, the door flew open and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with something on top of me.

* * *

 **Calem's POV**

Ah! Thank Arceus we're back on the ground!

As soon as I felt the helicopter land I grabbed the door handle and swung it open. My initial intention was to jump out and kiss the ground after surviving a helicopter ride that Red piloted. Instead, when I jumped, I didn't look where I was aiming so I ended up tackling someone to the ground.

"Argh." I groaned as I slowly opened up my eyes. Things were still a bit blurry so all I saw were a mess of blond hair framing a tan face. When my vision finally cleared, I could see that I landed on Ashley.

Shit. I messed up big time.

"Ugh..." Ashley was slowly getting back to her senses.

I felt a blush crawling on my face when I realized how awkward of a position we were in. My legs were on either sides of hers while my hands were on something squishy on her chest. Realizing this, I quickly moved them to either side of her shoulders, my face heating up even more.

"Ca-Calem?" Ashley opened her eyes. "What are you-?"

"Nice move dude." Ethan came up from behind me with the girls already staring at us. The boys were also staring at us too. Good thing Red was busy getting our stuff on the other side of the helicopter.

"Why does this feel familiar?" Ashley asked.

"You better get up if you don't want Red to find out." Argent pointed out. Ashley's eyes widen before she pushed me off of her. I soared through the air and landed about five feet from where everyone else were. Man, that girl is strong!

"I see that everyone is happy to be together again." Red commented as he walked towards us.

"Yep. But some of us are more happy than others." Ethan snickered. "Ouch!" he yelped when Kristee kicked him in his back.

"Am I missing something?" Red asked as he spotted me further away than everyone else.

"No!" Ashley and I exclaimed as I jumped up.

"Okay." he said slowly. He glared at me briefly before going back to bring our luggage into the house.

"Leaf! Put your little black book away! This is really not the time!" Hilda yelled at her. Leaf pouted before putting her book away along with a pencil.

"We got to burn that book." I heard Ashley mumble to the other girls minus Leaf as I walked towards them.

"Nice setup you have here." Nate admired the patio and pool.

"Thanks. Ashley wanted to have something simple so we decided on a pool party and a barbeque for her birthday today." Amber explained.

"Remind me again, how old are you today?" I asked.

"17. Just a month younger than you." Ashley crossed her arms.

"Personally, I want to see how much stronger you've become even if you're younger than me." I challenged her.

"Fine by me. Since you' weren't here for 10 months, I've had plenty of time to train." Ashley smirked.

"I'm not missing this battle. Who else is with me?" Hilbert asked. Everyone else raised their hands.

"One on one?" I asked.

She nodded. "And don't hold back. I want to see some Mega Evolution from your end."

"You just confirmed your lost then." I shrugged.

Ashley and I went to a battlefield where she stood on one side while I stood on the other. The others stood on the sidelines while Kristee was our referee.

"The one on one battle between Ashley Crimson and Calem Calme is about to begin! Trainers! Bring out your pokémon!" Kristee announced.

"Kanga, Li'l Kanga, I'm counting on you both!" I threw out their pokéball.

"Kanga!" they both roared when they popped out.

"Rio, show what we can do!" Ashley threw her pokéball out. Instead of the small golden yellow Riolu I was expecting, a bipedal canine pokémon was in her place. Her golden yellow fur was the same shade, but a coat of blue fur covered her waist and chest. The black mask on her face was still there, but the appendages on her head extended. Her paws and feet were dyed black with longer spikes growing her her paws. The detail that caught my eye the most was the belt with a Lucarionite in it.

 _Like the new look?_ Rio asked.

"I have to say, I wasn't expecting you to evolve her and obtain a Mega Stone." I told Ashley.

"A lot of things can change in 10 months." Ashley replied.

I heard Ethan snicker from the sidelines, followed by a small "Ow!" when Kristee kicked him in his shin.

"Are both Trainers ready?" Kristee looked at both of us. We nodded. "The battle between Ashley's Rio and Calem's Kanga and Li'l Kanga will now commence. Let the battle begin!"

"Rio! May our hearts connect as one! Mega Evolve!" Ashley clasped her hand over her Mega Locket.

"Kanga! The bond we have will never break! Mega Evolve!" I touched the Key Sone on my Mega Bracelet.

Light exploded from us while the pokémon were surround in energy. When the shells of energy broke. Li'l Kanga jumped from his mother's pouch and onto the battlefield, looking slightly older, and stronger with stone-like armor pads over his light purple body.

Rio looked like she was all hyped up for this battle. In her Mega Evolved form, waves of aura pulsed from her. I looked down at the aura stone ring from Mt Silver and saw that it was glowing. The aura pendant on both Rio and Ashley were glowing as well.

"Rio! Use Bone Rush!" Ashley ordered.

I snapped out of it when I heard both Kanga and Li'l Kanga's cries of pain when Rio smack a bone into both of them. When she was done, Rio jumped back to Ashley with the two long bones in her paws.

"Both of you! Thunderbolt!" I ordered my pokémon.

"Bone Rush again!" Ashley commanded.

Kanga and Li'l Kanga were surrounded with a yellow light as they launched a combined Thunderbolt at Rio. As the Thunderbolt was approaching her, Rio twirled both of the bones in her paws, creating a shield. Since Bone Rush was a ground type move, when the Thunderbolt hit, it didn't affect Rio.

"Now use Aura Sphere!" Ashley shouted.

Throwing away her Bone Rush, Rio jumped up in the air and formed a glowing blue orb in her paws.

"Use Protect!" I yelled to them. Kanga and Li'l Kanga created first a blue shield followed by a green shield over the both of them.

"Rapid fire!" Ashley shouted. Rio launched the Aura Sphere, one closely followed another that seemed like it went on forever. The Aura Spheres crashed onto the Protect. Kanga and Li'l Kanga tried to hold it up the best they could, but the Protect failed and the Aura Spheres pelted them. When the smoke cleared, Kanga and Li'l Kanga were barely standing up.

"Bone Rush again! Finish it!" Ashley shouted.

 _Um, how do I do that again?_ Rio looked back at her when she landed, sweatdropping.

"What?! You forgot how to do it?!" Ashley yelled.

 _Yeah._ Rio sweatdropped again.

"Than what can you do right now?" her trainer asked.

 _Let's see- Whoa!_ Rio exclaimed as she shot towards Kanga and Li'l Kanga at such a high speed. Rio collided with them and when I looked at Kanga and Li'l Kanga, they were fainted.

"Kanga and Li'l are unable to compete! That's means the winner is Rio! Ashley wins!" Kristee announced.

"Great job Rio!" Ashley ran up to hug her pokémon when Rio went back to her original form.

"You guys did great." I kneeled down to Kanga and Li'l Kanga, who went back into his mother's pouch.

"That was awesome!" Ethan exclaimed. "Imagine it, my pokémon Mega Evolving one day!"

"Actually, only a handful of pokémon species are able to Mega Evolve." Kristee corrected him. "And none of your pokémon are one of them."

"Only Argent, Rald, Leaf, Calem, and I have pokémon who can Mega Evolve." Ashley added. "That was why we got the respective Mega Stones and Key Stones for the former three."

"Consider that battle your birthday present." I told her.

"Nope. That battle was lame. I had more fun battling Amber." Ashley shook her head.

"Yeah. Their battle can get really heated when it's just a test of endurance." Leaf added. "It's worse when Amber unintentionally gives her pokémon a level spike."

"At least we cleaned out the pool with the battle between Tor and Omny!" Amber smiled sheepishly.

"Let's just get the rest of the party set up." Hilda brought everyone back on course. "We have a lot do if we're going to get things done before sunset."

"At least we don't have to do anything." Nate yawned.

"No way!" Rosa glared at him. "If you boys are here, than you're going to help out!" Rosa growled as she dragged her brother by his ear. Hilbert looked scared as Hilda did the same thing to him.

Oh boy. It's going to be a long day.

* * *

 **Rosa's POV**

"Who wants another Cinnabar Burger?" Ethan asked.

"I'll go for another one." Hilbert raised his hand. Ethan slid his spatula under a burger patty and flipped it into the air, landing on a bun with the burger toppings. already on it.

It was sundown and we had tiki torches lit so we could see around the patio and pool. Ethan, Hilbert, Nate, Kristee, and I were sitting on the patio set while the others were playing in the pool with lights installed on the bottom and sides.

Leaf was currently trying to dunk Argent underwater while Hilda, Amber, and Ashley were off to the side sweatdropping. Calem, on the other hand, was successful and was holding a flailing Rald underwater

"Umm. I think he needs to take a breath." Kristee pointed to Rald.

"What makes you say that?" Calem asked as he was kicking his feet to stay afloat in his blue swim trunks with a white stripe down each side.

"His face is starting to turn blue and he's slowing his movements." Nate explained. He was in his black swim trunks with thin blue lightning bolts down the sides.

"Sorry." Calem smiled sheepishly as he let go of Rald. Rald bobbed up to the surface, taking a deep breath.

"Sorry?" Rald looked mad. Even with his short legs, he was still able to keep afloat in his shimmering green swim trunks. "Sorry?! I'll show you how 'sorry' you are!" he dived down and pulled on Calem's legs, dragging him down.

"Not sure if that's the best way to get back at someone, but works for me." Ethan shrugged. He was wearing his gold swim trunks with a black stripe down each side with a 'Kiss the Cook' apron over his bare chest.

"Than do any of you mind helping us get Leaf off of Argent?" Ashley asked.

"He looks like he's about to pass out." Hilda added.

"Watch out!" Kristee warned as she slipped off her swim cover up over her turquoise swim shorts and tankini top. She took a running start and dived into the water. She swam under Leaf and pulled the girl away from Argent who gasped for air.

"Aw! You ruin all the fun!" Leaf pouted as she glared at Kristee who had her blue hair stuck to her face.

"If it keeps you from killing Argent, than she can do whatever she wants." Ashley told her. She was wearing a red bikini top that was tied behind her neck and shoulder blades that matched the red and black swim shorts she also had on.

"Yeah, it's not like I got Blasty to sit on him or anyone underwater." Amber added as she sat on the edge of the pool with a pale yellow one piece that had a flared out skirt attached to it.

"Amber, don't give her ideas." Hilda warned as she sat next to her in a white bikini. I wore one similar to hers, but it was a tankini top with a bikini bottom that had a pink tint to it.

"Great idea Amber!" Leaf grinned devilishly in her royal blue bikini.

* * *

Somehow, that ended up with everyone in the pool. Argent, in his silver swim trunks, was glaring at Hilbert, in black swim trunks, when he accidentally punched Argent in his eye. Amber was quietly tending to Argent's eye even though she was in the middle of their scuffle. Kristee ended up with a burger on her head and kicked Ethan out of the pool and crashing into the metal patio set. Good thing the wicker one was perfectly okay.

Hilda, Nate, and I ended up tied up to the diving board when Leaf, riding on Blasty, was trying to chain Rald the bottom of the pool to see how long he can hold his breath. And she did catch him, but she ended up chained with him. Luckily, the chain was long enough to reach the surface.

And I believe the most awkward couple here was Ashley and Calem. Why you ask? Well, it involves splashing, dragging, an underwater kiss, and Leaf with her waterproof camera. Currently, Ashley and Calem were handcuffed to each other around the railing near the stairs leading into the pool. I don't even want to know where Leaf got those handcuffs or why she brought them to the pool.

"Leaf? You caused this mess so you have to explain all to Red when he comes out to check on us!" Hilda glared at said girl.

"Heh. Maybe I didn't think this one through." Leaf smiled sheepishly as she was trying to get her chain out of the overflow drain.

"Please tell me you have a key to these things." I asked. I was referring to the giant padlock on the chains. If we were out of here soon, I'm probably going to ask Nate to call Genesect here. And who knows what more problems can happen!

"And to us!" Ashley shouted. "I don't know how you managed to get these handcuffs on us, but you better have a key!"

"Ow! You just blasted my eardrum." Calem complained.

"Shut up!" she growled. "You were the one who got us in this mess in the first place!"

"What?" he shrugged. "I thought you liked the kiss."

"Why you-!"

"Can you guys stop your flirting? It's very annoying!" Rald complained.

"When Red comes out, he's going to kill us." I heard Amber mumble. She's right. If Red sees us the way we are right now, than we'll all be grounded. This is going to be like Leaf's grounding.

"This is so not what I thought my birthday would be like." Ashley sighed.

"At least you're not spending it alone like your previous ones." Hilbert added as he hid behind my siblings and I, away from Argent.

"That's true. But I wasn't expecting to have a damn near drowning." she glared at Calem.

"Come on. I gave you a kiss. Consider that as another birthday present." he shrugged.

"Can you stop mentioning that?!" she yelled at him.

"Guys, we're still near you two so," Hilda blinked several times.

"We're going to become deaf if you keep going at it." Nate finished as he rubbed his ear against his shoulder.

"Guys, I hear footsteps!" Ethan warned.

"Shit!" Everyone yelled. Ethan scrambled back into the pool, where Kristee kicked him between the legs for getting too close to her. He ended up sinking to the bottom of the pool.

"Should we-?" Amber asked.

"He'll be fine." both Argent and Kristee replied.

The door from the house opened up and Red walked out. He had his eyes closed as he was whistling something.

"Great, he's going to be even madder when he opens his eyes." Ashley facepalmed with her one free hand.

"Why?" I asked.

"Whenever he whistles his 'battle theme', or so he calls it, he has good news." she replied.

"Right now, is that good or bad?" Leaf asked.

"Bad." Ashley stated.

"How's the-" Red's face fell when he opened his eyes.

"We can explain this." Ashley stopped him. "Leaf started it."

"What?!" Leaf exclaimed. "That's not true!"

"It's true!" everyone chorused.

"Now you all are ganging up against me? Not cool!" she pouted. "Traitors."

* * *

 **Ashley's POV**

We were back int the living room, draped in towels or in our cover ups. Everyone was freed from their predicaments. Except for Calem and I. The handcuffs Leaf used on us were indestructible so we can't get them off since Leaf threw the key far off in the middle of the ocean. And Ditty forgot how the key looks like so we're going to be stuck like this for a while.

"How are you guys going sleep?" Rosa asked.

"Together, duh. I bet they're going to have a lot of fun doing- Ohh!" Ethan groaned as Kristee kicked him between his legs before he could say anything else.

"Thank you Kris." Hilda nodded to her as she and Hilbert covered Rosa's and Nate's ears. I know they're old enough to know about it, but it is still a bit graphic. Especially if it's coming from Ethan.

"At least being handcuffed like these is a bit better than being tied to each other like that training mission." I sighed.

"Another one of my genius idea!" Ethan raised a weak hand up.

"You suggested that?!" I glared at him. "Why you little-!" I got held back from beating the living daylights out of him by Calem who wrapped his hands around my waist and arms. But to complete what I wanted to start, Kristee kicked Ethan again in the groin.

"Ahem." Dad coughed. Everyone looked up to him, or in Ethan's case, just groan as he lays on the floor holding his crotch. "Back to the subject here, first I hope that you had a wonderful birthday."

"I have to say, I never had one like this." I commented.

"That's good. I think." Dad looked uncertain.

"Look around, does it look good?" Kristee gestured to everyone.

"I see your point." Dad said. "But there's another reason why I called you here."

"Beside the fact that you just ruined one of the most awe- I mean out of control parties ever?" Hilbert changed the last part since Hilda was glaring at him.

"Yes. That." Dad was rubbing his temples. I won't blame him. I already got a headache. "And that I'm sending everyone on another mission."

"What? But don't we still have that- Ow!" Rald complained as Nate elbowed him.

"Yes, I know, and it's the same one." Dad nodded. "I'm just adding the girls to it."

"To what?" Amber asked.

"Remember when we went to the academy?" Argent asked.

"Of course we do." Leaf rolled her eyes. "You guys just came back today."

"Well, we were sent there to go undercover as students." Calem added.

"Thank you for pointing that out Captain Obvious." I said sarcastically.

"Anyway, we went undercover to investigate something." he continued.

"You don't say?" I rolled my eyes.

"Do you mind?" he snapped at me.

"If you want me to stop, than just stop saying the obvious!" I yelled back. "Of course you had to go undercover to investigate something bad! It's all we do!"

"She has you there." Rosa pointed out.

"They went there to investigate a new villain which we have little to no information on." Dad finished.

"What do you have so far?" Kristee asked.

"All we know is that it's a female who is running a small plot that can potentially destroy the world." Dad explained.

"Way to put it bluntly." Nate told him.

"Do we know anything else?" Rosa asked.

"Not really." Dad admitted.

"So we're just supposed to go in blind like this?" Leaf asked.

"That's what we've been doing so far and we're fine." Hilbert shrugged.

"That's because you're boys!" Leaf exclaimed. "Girls need something more solid to go on! We need proof, evidence, information!"

"Leaf, give it a rest!" Hilda yelled at her. With that, Leaf sank down into her seat.

"Anyways, I'm sending all of you to the academy so the boys will brief you on the rest." Dad said before going up to his room, to what I'm guessing take some aspirin. Today has given everyone headaches.

"So that's it?" Rosa asked.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Nate stood up and stretched. "It's best if we go change and get to bed."

"Yes, but one question." I interrupted. "This." I held up my left hand that was cuffed to Calem's right hand.

"Nee-san, you got any ideas?" Argent asked.

"I have no ideas, but I got a real question for them." she replied. "How are you guys going to get changed?"

I felt my face turn bright red as I looked at Calem who was blushing as much as I am. So maybe we really didn't think this thing through.

* * *

"Are you done yet?" I asked. "My arm's getting tired."

"Now you know what I felt when I was waiting for you." Calem replied through the bathroom door. It was open a crack so I can stick my arm in there so Calem was able to get changed. We were finally able to find a way to do it. In order to get the sleeves through our arms, we had to cut open the sleeves and then sew them back together. We also settled on sleeping in my bed since the handcuffs were not long enough to be more than six inches from each other and I'm not getting caught in a boy's room.

I was already changed in my pajamas, a black cami with red pajama pants, while Calem was putting on his. I don't why it's taking him so long though. His pajamas are only a pair of boxers. Now, I am very glad that Dad left the room before the rest of us had to discuss this.

 _You better not do anything tonight._ Rio smirked.

"What is with you and thinking we're going to have sex just because we're cuffed together?!" I exclaimed.

 _Well I have seen several TV shows were there were scenes where it involves no clothes, handcuffs, and a bed._ Rio replied.

"What kind of fucked up show has you been watching?" I stared at her in shocked.

 _It wasn't anything graphic. They don't show anything that mature._ Rio replied.

"I don't know why I'm even trying." I facepalmed.

"Trying what?" Calem asked as he stepped out of my bathroom.

"Forget it. I just lost all control I had over my pokémon." I sighed.

 _So I finally broke her? That's great!_ Rio cheered. _Ow!_ Pika whacked her over the head with her tail.

"At least. I still have you to count on." I scratched behind Pika's ear.

"Chaaaa!" she cooed.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Calem asked as we walked over towards my bed.

"Yeah. We have no other choice, but to go with it." I told him.

"But we're going to be sleeping in the same bed. Close to each other." he pointed out.

 _I told her the same thing!_

"Shut up!" I growled at her. "And yes I know." I turned back to Calem. "And I'm okay with it because I'm okay with you. Are you okay with me?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked.

"You tell me that." I grinned before crawling into bed. I moved over so Calem had enough room next to me. We pulled the blanket up to our chests, our arms over the blanket, as we stared up at the canopy.

Calem moved his arms under the blanket. I felt something move under and towards my butt.

I narrowed my arms and quickly got on top of him. I glared at him right in the eye. "Just because I'm okay with you sleeping next to me in my bed doesn't mean that I will not hesitate to hurt you if you try anything."

"Noted." he gulped as he nodded his head.

"Good." I sighed as I fell back on my side.

 _Still what me to keep watch?_ Rio asked.

"I don't want to take any chances." I told her. Rio nodded as she stationed herself leaning against the nightstand. I spotted her appendages float up as she was sensing the auras around her while she was sleeping.

"Um, what about Sol?" Calem asked as he pointed to a growling Sol at his side.

"Sol, down." I ordered her. She did as so reluctantly. "Good girl." Sol was still glaring at Calem as she walked around the bed and settled down at the end of the head board. Pika was already sleeping on top of the canopy.

"Do they always sleep out with you?" Calem asked.

"Yes. They insist and I can't really force them back in so I just let them." I explained.

"Oh." he replied.

The lights were already off and my eyelids were starting to get heavy from the lack of energy. I yawned as I closed my eyes and turned onto my side, facing towards Calem. I heard some moving on Calem's side as he turned onto his side as well. I felt arm wrap around my waist as I was pulled into Calem's chest.

"Don't try anything." I mumbled.

"I got that from your earlier threat." he replied. I couldn't help, but laugh. I opened my eyes and looked up at Calem's eye. Even in the darkness, I could see the gray cloudy skies I see every time I look into them. I quickly felt a blush rush to my face so I ducked my head back down so I was staring at his bare chest.

Arceus, why am I feeling this way? It's just like after that moment we had in the elevator! Do I really like him?

"Good night." I felt Calem kiss my forehead. I was shocked as I felt my face heat up even more. I heard his breathing even out, indicating he was asleep, and I buried my face in his chest again. My eyelids couldn't take it anymore and I fell asleep, with a boy's arms wrapped around me. One who was handcuffed to me, but it doesn't really matter.

Okay, maybe I really do like him. But does he feel the same about me? His answer will be my true birthday present.

* * *

 **I am so evil. I am truly evil. Don't any of you worry. They'll get out of that situation. Maybe.**

 **And I like to give my version of how a pokemon forget a move in order to learn a new one. Though in the games we chooses which one they forget, the pokemon just forgets one randomly. Right now, I have all the pokemon on a four move limit, but way later, I'm going to show how they can learn a fifth move without forgetting any previous ones.**

 **That's all for now! And don't forget to put in a review your opinion on which name I should have for the female player character for my Pokemon moon Game! The choices are Artemis, Lilo, Luna or Yue!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	21. Move-in Day

**Hi everyone! I'm back! And currently having a very busy life, so let's make this short.**

 **So this is the next part of Runaway Life. This is officially the real idea I first had of this. The whole school life concept for a fanfic is one of my favorite and I always wanted to do one, so here it is!**

 **And here are the reviews!**

 **.18: You were one of the first to be there with me ever since I first posted this so I can understand, but here it is right now! I also put some very small hints in previous chapters so the main plott is lying in wait until now! And thanks for your input!**

 **thor94: Ash? Well, he isn't the true Red incarnation since his dad, Red is there, but there are some elements to him. All I can say is that he actually won a league. Not saying how long, but he did.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I've noticed a tread in the manga so I already have that covered. Thank you for your opinion! And yes. I think Crystal may have been a bit excessive, but it's Gold. What are you going to do?**

 **Thank you to all who helped me! When I play Moon, I'm probably going to name my character Luna and save either Artemis or Apollo for Rowlett, the starter I'm choosing. The name will depend on eh gender. And has anyone checked out the bulbapedia page on Sun and Moon (game characters)? Since their game names are their manga names, I used the pre-released media names in this story for their real names. Just to let you know!**

 **And now, the disclaimer!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. or any of the works I reference. Only my OCs. That's it.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

 **Crystal's POV**

"It's official! For his next birthday, we're paying for Red to take a piloting lesson!" Blue exclaimed as the helicopter hit some turbulence. Again. And I agree with her.

Unlike this very dangerous flight, the past few months have been calm. After Scarlett's birthday, we celebrated Emerald's the next week and we also celebrated Blue's the day after. Than a month passed that, we had to celebrate Gold's. Unlike the boys, who gave him birthday punches, I gave him birthday kicks because of another perverted comment. As usual.

"Silver, how much longer do you think it will take?" Scarlett asked as she and X sat together. Silver was busy picking the lock on their handcuffs. Yes, they're still handcuffed together. After three months, Silver finally found a pair of handcuffs exactly like the ones Blue used and studied them before attempting to pick the lock on the actual handcuffs. And he's been at it for a week already.

"If Red can fly straight, then they'll be out in an hour." Silver muttered.

"We're going to be stuck forever." X sighed.

"If Nee-san didn't throw the key away, than you guys would be free already." Silver pointed out.

"Hey! I already got grounded for two months! I'm not taking any more ridicule here!" Blue protested.

"Even though it was your fault at the beginning, Blue." White muttered.

"I have to agree with her."' Black nodded.

"Whatever she said." the twins, Lack-Two and Whi-Two said.

"Do you Unova people all agree on everything?" Gold asked.

"Yes."

"Then why don't the Johto people all agree like them?" Gold asked.

"No." Silver and I glared at him.

"As long as we're talking about regions, do you find it weird that while I'm from Hoenn, Yellow is from Kanto and Gold is from Johto?" Emerald asked. "Our family's everywhere!"

"It's not that uncommon, Emerald." Yellow told him. "We're cousins. Not siblings. But you're right. Our family is pretty spread over the regions."

I tuned out the rest of the different conversations going on. I opened up the book I had in my lap and started to read again. It was very interesting. Usually, I don't read fiction, but this one really got my attention. It was about a group of teenagers who are soon-to-be Pokémon rangers. Seems normal, right? Wrong. There's a twist in here. The same group actually has wings. They kept it secret to each other until they all find out at their graduation before they go their own paths.

"Eek!" Yellow squeaked as the helicopter jerked again. I sighed as I put my book away. I am never able to concentrate as long as I'm stuck in this death trap

"Got it!" Silver exclaimed as the lock on the handcuffs opened.

"Thank Arceus!" Scarlett exclaimed as she rubbed her wrist.

Suddenly, the helicopter literally turned upside down and we had to grab onto something to avoid falling on the ceiling. Unfortunately, X and Scarlett were the only ones who didn't grab something. They ended up tumbling around until the helicopter steadied. When it did, Scarlett landed on top of X.

"Oof! That really hurts." X groaned.

"My head is spinning." Scarlett complained.

"I think we're there already." I announced as I looked out of the window. The academy campus and the small town near it came into view.

"Finally, we can get out of this death machine." Blue sighed.

When we landed, we all fell out of the helicopter. Literally. Red flipped the helicopter on its side while he landing and the door swung open. All of us, since there weren't any seatbelts, fell on top of each other as we fell on the grass.

"Hey! Whose hand is on my butt?!" Blue shouted.

"Hehehe. Sorry." Gold snickered.

 _Bam! Bam!_

And cue the kick from me with a punch from Silver.

"Red, your piloting skills seriously needs some work." White pointed out as Red crawled out of the cockpit.

"Guess so." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Girls, grab your carryon bags. I need to take you to Registration. Boys, you know where you're going so you can just head there."

After untangling ourselves from each other, the boys went to get their bags while the other girls and I yanked our bags out of the giant hunk of metal that nearly killed us.

We rolled our bags of our favorite colors (if you don't know them already than you really haven't been paying attention to the story so far) as we followed Red towards one of the huge buildings that makes up the entire academy.

"This place is very sophisticated." Whi-Two noted as we passed through the 10 feet tall iron gate that marked the school grounds.

"Yet, I have a feeling that the girls here are not." I added as a group of teenage girls with their breast barely contained within their shirts and very short skirts.

"We're going to have a very exciting year." Scarlett commented.

We walked passed a stone statue of a Mew flying upwards with its tail curling around it loosely.

"That's really pretty!" Yellow commented as she looked at the statue.

"They have several Legendary Pokémon statues dotted around the campus." Red explained.

"What about manmade pokémon? Like Genesect and Mewtwo?" Blue asked.

"Yes, they have them here too." Red nodded.

We reached the building where we were supposed to register. When we walked through the glass door, a young woman looking around her early twenties was sitting behind a desk with a computer.

"Welcome to MGA! This is the registration desk. May I help you?" the woman asked.

"Hello, my name is Satoshi. I'm here to register my foster daughters." Red gestured to us.

"Oh yes! I remember you from last year when you registered your foster sons!" the woman said.

"Yes. And this year, I want my foster daughters to come here this year." Red, I mean Satoshi, explained.

"Let me just pull up your files." the woman typed on her computer. "Ah! Yes! Here it is. Your foster daughters can talk to me to get their housing and classes. And here is your information to begin teaching here. Good luck Mr Crimson!"

Did she just say that Red is going to be teaching here? I looked over at Scarlett who just froze in her place. Oh, this is going to be a very long year.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV  
**

My dad is going to teach here? Scratch that, he's going to be watching over me 24/7?!

"Alright girls, you can get registered now!" the woman smiled at us. "My name's Daisy by the way. Daisy Oak!"

"Oh, so you're supposed to be related to Professor Oak then?" Blue asked.

"Yes. He's my grandpa." Daisy answered. "When he opened this academy, I went to this school, but now that I'm out of school, I got a job as a receptionist here."

"That's nice." Yellow noted.

"It is." Daisy nodded. "Now, which one of you wants to go first?"

"Scarlett!" I jumped when Blue shouted my name. "Why don't you go first?"

"Oh okay." I snapped out of my daze and numbly walked up to the desk with Pika on my shoulder.

"Your name?" Daisy asked.

"Scarlett Sacha." I answered. She typed on her keyboard.

"Okay! You're all set! You're boarding in the Alpha house." Daisy told me. "Your uniform and a student handbook are already in there. These are your classes." she handed me a sheet of paper from the printer next to the computer. "I hope you enjoy your time here!" she said with a smile.

I took the paper from her hand and walked back to let the other girls get registered. I looked over my classes and saw that it was simple.

 _Scarlett Sacha, Fourth Year_

 _Schedule_

 _Homeroom: A416; Crimson Satoshi_

 _Hour 1: Advanced Battling Techniques, B323; Wataru Lance_

 _Hour 2: The Art of Contests, D214; Carnet Diantha_

 _Hour 3: The Proper Care of pokémon, C205; Shirona Cynthia_

 _Hour 4: Forming a Bond, C208; Adeku Alder_

 _Hour 5: Lunch_

 _Hour 6: Free Study_

 _Hour 7: Mega Evolution, C400; Stone Steven_

 _Hour 8: Rise to a Master, B400; Crimson Satoshi_

Great, I have to have my dad twice in a day? Why do I have a feeling he had something to do with this? At least I don't have him for every one of my classes. For the rest, I have other league champions. That's strange; don't they have challenges to do?

Then there's lunch. It seems to be at a reasonable hour. I hope the others have lunch at the same time as I do. Right after that, I have a free hour. I can explore the town or train a bit while I don't have anything to do.

When the rest of the girls were done, we discussed about our classes while we went back to get the rest of our stuff at the helicopter.

"So we all have the same lunch? That's great!" Blue compared our schedules.

"And Whi-Two, you're a second yea, that's great! You proved that you're really smart!" White was excited at her sister.

"I guess." Whi-Two blushed from embarrassment.

"At least you'll have Emerald and Lack-Two in the same year as you." Yellow reassured her. "I also skipped a year so I'm in the same year as Blue and Scarlett."

"Don't forget X." Crystal added. "He's also a fourth year. And I'm stuck with Silver and Gold. Silver, I can deal with, but not Gold. I'm glad that I'm going to have White and Black help me with them."

"I can't believe we're going to have my dad as our homeroom teacher." I sighed as I looked towards Blue and Yellow.

"Hopefully it won't be all that bad." Yellow reassured me.

"Hey, he said that you're his foster daughter, not his real daughter." Blue pointed out.

"Yeah, that does make things a little bit easier. Just a little bit." I sighed.

When we got the helicopter, the boys had left while our bags were still in there. Dad quickly got his stuff and headed towards the staff housing. I called out Saur while Blue had Ditty transformed into an Alakazam and Crystal had Xatee out. Both of them used Psychic to lift up our stuff while Saur carried some using his vines.

We walked passed some houses and saw that some of the other students were already outside in their connecting backyard, meeting each other. As we walked past the Heart and Soul houses, a battle was going on between a raven haired boy with a Pikachu in front of him while on the other side, a boy with spiky brown hair was glaring him down.

I focused my attention back to the others once we stood in front of the blue painted brick building with a large blue banner with the Alpha symbol in it.

"Who has the key?" White asked.

"We all have a key." Crystal told her. "Daisy gave us a copy when she was giving us a schedule"

"She did?" everyone else asked. We looked at our schedule where a key was typed to the back of them. The paper was so stiff, we didn't noticed.

"Let's just head in and get settled." Blue said as she took her key and unlocked the door. I returned Saur so Ditty and Xatee each took some stuff to hold up as we walked in. The living was very similar to the one the boys had. On our left, a TV was facing a couch with a coffee table between them. A kitchen was on the opposite side with an L-shaped island separating the kitchen and living room. In front of us was a set of stairs leading to the upper floors.

When we walked up to the second floor, there was only one room.

"I'll take this room." Whi-Two offered as she walked in the room with her stuff floating in behind her.

We walked up to the third floor where there were only two rooms.

"We take these." Crystal and White offered as they each picked a room.

Blue, Yellow, and I walked up to the final and fourth floor where there was three rooms available.

"I'll take the one at the end of the hallway." Yellow offered. "I need the sunlight."

"I'll take the one right here than." Blue walked into the room the closest to the stairs.

"Then I have the middle one." I sighed as I walked down to the room and walked in.

The room looked practically the same as the one we had back at the house, although, it was a bit smaller. There wasn't a gigantic closet or a master bathroom. A bathroom was shared between each room. So that meant I had two doors leading to two bathrooms in my room. Thanks a lot, ladies.

I opened up to where the closet was supposed to be and saw several uniforms in there already. I still had some room for the rest of my clothes in the drawers and closet so I placed them in. The rest of my stuff, I placed on the desk included with the room and in the nightstand. There were two stands. The one on the left side of the bed was a normal one, but the one on the right had a monitor on top of it. A keyboard slid out from the top drawer with a small transporter next to it. A healing machine was in the bottom drawer with six slots to fit six pokeballs. The bed didn't have a canopy on it, but it did have a student handbook.

I picked it up and quickly skimmed through it. No hats allowed, uniforms must be worn during school hours, only one small pokémon out, ear piercings only are permitted, no unofficiated battles, etc. just a lot of boring stuff.

I looked out of the window, which had a small balcony; not a balcony where you can step out on, but one where you can lean out a bit. I looked out and saw that it overlooked the backyard which had a pool, one battlefield, and a small patio near each building.

"How do you like it?" I turned to my right to see Blue leaning out as well.

"Well, I have two bathrooms connecting to my room, what do you think?" I raised a brow.

"To be fair," I looked to my left to see Yellow also leaning out. "We didn't know."

"But aren't these rooms nice though?" we looked down to see White and Crystal looking up at us.

"They look a lot like the ones back at the house though." Crystal added.

"Want to see what the boys are doing?" Whi-Two shouted up to us.

"Let's meet in the backyard!" We all looked over to see all of the boys leaning out of their window as well. Unlike our house, there were two rooms on the second floor, Emerald and Lack-Two, three on the third floor, Black, Gold, and Silver, and one on the fourth floor, X.

"Fine!" the girls and I shouted. I quickly pulled my head back and closed the window. I exited my room to see Blue and Yellow also exiting. We walked down to the living room where we met up with Crystal, White, and Whi-Two.

We walked through the kitchen where there was a door leading outside. I opened it and we were led to the backyard.

"These building are very asymmetrical." White noted.

"Yeah, but they coincidentally meet with how our years are." Black pointed out.

"By the way, what are your schedules?" X asked.

"Scarlett, Yellow and I have homeroom with Red, I mean Satoshi, while Crystal and White have it with Wallace. Whi-Two has Iris as her homeroom teacher. We have different schedules, but we all have lunch at hour 5." Blue explained.

"Then I'm with you for homeroom." X said to us. "Silver, Gold, and Black have it with Wallace as well while Emerald and Lack-Two also have Iris."

"We also hour 5 lunch together." Silver added.

"I thought it was weird why it said 'Crimson Satoshi' for my Rise to a Master class." Gold wondered out loud. "I didn't know he was teaching here now."

"He is and I think I know why." I mumbled.

"So, what do we do now?" Crystal asked. "Classes don't start until tomorrow."

"We can go to the town and explore a bit." Black suggested.

"That sounds good." Lack-Two nodded.

The boys unlocked the gate connected to the metal fence that both surrounded the backyard and connected the buildings together and led us to the town.

"Absol!" Sol popped out of her pokéball.

"Feels good to be back, huh?" I asked her.

"Ab!" Sol nodded.

I let her stay out as we walked through the town. Several students were already out in the town, meeting each other.

"Hey, Blue?" Whi-Two asked her.

"Yeah?" Blue turned back other.

"Since we're in school now, won't it make sense if we call each other 'senpai' and junior' than?"

"Never thought about that." Blue admitted.

"We did it last year so I suggested you girls do it too." X told us.

I looked towards the other girls and they nodded.

"White-senpai." Whi-two asked White.

"What is it?" she looked back at her sister.

"Did you finally get 8 Leaders of the League to sign you as their manager?" Whi-Two asked.

"Just got the email this morning." White nodded.

"Who's 8 Leaders of the League?" Gold asked as Whi-Two was squealing.

"They're kind of like 4 Elites." White explained. "8 Leaders of the League, or 8LOL for short, is a boy band with four members who was previously offered a Gym Leader position twice each."

"Oh my Arceus! It's some of the Dexholders!" a group of girls screamed when we was passing through a park.

"Uh oh!" the color drained from the boys' faces.

"What's going on?" Yellow asked.

"Honchkrow! Use Haze!" Silver let out his pokémon and with a flap of its wings, thick black clouds were blown at the charging herd of girls.

"Run!" I felt someone grab my wrist before I was dragged. Sol had already retreated back in her pokéball when the girls screamed. I had to cover my eye from the Haze, but when I could see again, X was dragging me toward the side of a cliff

"X!" I yelled as he and the other boys were heading right towards it. I closed my eyes, and waited for the impact, which never came.

"What the-?" Crystal took the words right out of my mouth as the boys stopped. I opened my eyes and looked around.

"So you guys also got chased here?" a boy with a white and red cap said. He had black hair with brown eyes and a Pikachu on his shoulder. He had on a red sleeveless jacket on with two white stripes going down the middle. Under the jacket was a short sleeve black shirt. His light blue jeans covered the tops of his red and black sneakers.

"Yeah." Gold panted. "This year is going to be nuts."

"Unfortunately, we have to deal with it." a boy with brown-auburn hair that spiked up sighed.

"Hey, haven't we seen you before?" a boy with a red beret, one with a white hat, and a blond with a green scarf asked Yellow.

"What?" she looked nervous. "I have never seen you before."

"Really? I think I saw that one before too." the boy with auburn hair pointed to Crystal.

"U-Um..." she stuttered.

"Guys, these are our friends," X intercepted. "This is Scarlett, Blue, Yellow, Crystal, White, and Whi-Two. They're our foster sisters."

"Oh." the raven haired boy said. "Sorry about my friends. I'm Ash, that's Gary, Barry, my cousins, Lucas and Brendan, and our friends Dawn, May, Serena, and Lyra." he pointed to each of them, including a group of girls behind them.

"Before we go any further, can someone tell us what the hell is going on here?!" Blue demanded.

"I'll explain." Gary offered. "My grandpa is headmaster of this academy and since he's a pokémon professor, he works with the pokédex. Last year, he chose a selected group of trainers to hold a pokédex while at the academy. He chose us." Gary gestured to the boys and his friends. "And so about 90% of the female population formed a little club who dubbed us, the 'Dexholders'."

"But we have pokédexes too." I pointed out as the girls and I held up our pokédexes.

"So do us!" May shouted as she and her friends held up their own.

"Then, this is going to cause some trouble." Lucas sighed.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"Last year, the only Dexholders were boys and this year, since there's girls too, the fan club is going to go wild." Brendan explained.

"But we, except Lyra, have been here last year." Serena countered. "And we still had our pokédexes back then."

"But you didn't show them off." Barry retorted. "Last year, Oak made us!"

"Do you also think these people are crazy?" Blue leaned over to my ear and whispered into it.

 _Crazy? I think they're full out nuts._ Rio commented from inside her pokéball.

I ignored her. "Not exactly crazy, but-" I couldn't' find the word to finish that thought.

 _Psycho? Messed up? Oh! I know! Not of this world!_ Rio suggested.

I spotted X trying to contain his laughter from what Rio said.

 _You're not helping!_ I told her.

 _Just giving you three very good answers._ Rio defended.

"What about unique?" Yellow suggested.

"Yes! Unique." I nodded towards Blue.

"So, what are your classes this year?" Black asked.

We're going to be here for a while.

* * *

I had to let out Saur and Tor while Blue let out Blasty since the other girls and I were getting tired standing on our feet. We also let May, Dawn, Serena, and Lyra sit with us.

While the boys were talking to each other, the girls discussed between us.

"So what year are you in?" Crystal asked.

"We're all fourth years except for Lyra; she's a third year. I was supposed to be a third year this year, but I was able to test out of it and skipped a year. Barry did too." Serena answered. "Dawn, May, and I have a new teacher named Satoshi as our homeroom teacher while Lyra has Wallace. What about you?"

"Yellow, Scarlett and I also have Satoshi since we're also fourth years." Blue told them. "Crystal and White are third years so they have Wallace while Whi-Two is a second year, she has Iris."

"Seems like almost all of the fourth years have the same homeroom teacher." Dawn joked. "The third and second years too."

"What do you mean by that?" white asked.

"Ash, Gary, Lucas, Brendan, and Barry are all fourth years." May explained. "And they also have Satoshi."

"And the really funny thing is that we all have hour 5 lunch!" Lyra added.

"Then I'm guessing we're going to see a lot of each other." Yellow smiled. "We all have it too."

"What about your classes?" Serena asked.

Again, this is a very long day.

* * *

Since the boys were taking forever, we said our goodbyes to May, Dawn, Serena, and Lyra. Crystal had her Xatee teleport us back to our rooms. I had already returned Saur and Tor so they were safely with me. I looked out of the window and saw that is was already sundown. Wow. Time really did fly today.

 _Today was boring._ Rio complained as she popped out of her pokéball.

"Yeah well, the first day is always boring." I retorted as I looked inside my closet. I took out a uniform and hung it on the outside on the closet door so I won't forget.

 _That looks a bit plain though._ Rio commented as she tilted her head at the uniform.

"Really?" I asked her.

"Pi." Pika nodded.

"It is a bit plain, but it looks better than other kind of uniforms." I commented.

 _Who are you going to bring to your classes though?_ Rio asked.

"Pika of course." I told her. "Everyone else is too big."

 _But I get bored when I'm inside my pokéball._ Rio whined.

"You can still talk to me while you're in there." I pointed out. "Unlike Sol, Saur, Tor, or Char, so you're lucky you can still talk to me. You can also talk to them while you're in there."

 _Why doesn't Pika ever go in her pokéball than?_ she asked.

"Pi! Pika! Ka! Pikachu! Pi!" Pika exclaimed.

"We've been through this." I sighed.

"Pi." Pika nodded. "Pika pi. Chu ka pi!"

 _Why you little-!_

"Pika, don't anger her or else I would have to hear her complain about it all night." I told her.

 _I do not!_ Rio protested.

"I have the recordings to prove it." I told her before I went into the bathroom with my pajamas. When I got changed, I walked out to see Sol, Rio, and Pika all talking.

I heard a knock at the door.

"Scarlett! Do you want to come watch a movie with the rest of us?" Blue asked through the door.

I walked over and opened it. Blue was standing there in her pajamas already. "What movie are we watching?" I asked.

"What about Durant-Man?" Blue asked.

"What other movies are there?" I replied.

"There's more downstairs. Let's go." Blue grabbed my hand and dragged me downstairs. I sent a message to Rio to watch over the others as Blue ran down the stairs with an iron grip on my hand.

When we got downstairs, everyone else was there in their pajamas as well. White and Whi-two were looking through the different movies we have while Crystal and Yellow were in the kitchen making popcorn.

"The kitchen is stocked already?" I asked.

"Yeah, but if we want more food, we have to buy more ourselves." Yellow nodded.

"Is Red still adding to our cards every week?" White asked.

"He is." I nodded. "And he bumped it up to 5000 PKD a week since we're in school now." I answered as I sat down on the couch. "And he finally gave the boys their own cards too."

"What did they do last year?" White asked.

"They had to work for the money." Blue smirked.

"Where? A café?" Crystal asked as she placed another bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Actually, yes." Blue nodded as she sat next to me. "I have some pictures of them as waiters."

"Oh! What do you guys think about watching Maximum Ride?" White suggested. "You know? The book series turned movie series about a bunch of kids being turned mutant freaks with bird pokémon DNA?"

"Anime or live-action?" I asked.

"We have both types." Whi-Two answered. "All nine movies of each."

"Yellow? Crys? Which one do you guys prefer?" Blue asked them.

"Anime." Yellow answered.

"I don't know." Crystal said. "I could go for either one."

"I like the anime style." I stated as Blue turned towards me.

"Live-action." White and Whi-Two both answered at the same time.

"It's up to you, Blue." I told her. "Which one do you like?"

At this point, they should all know her answer. "Put the anime one in." she said.

White nodded and placed the disc for the first movie in. Whi-two had the other movies in a pile next to her and she and White made themselves comfortable on the rug on the hardwood floor.

The movie started at the same time Yellow and Crystal came with two bowls of popcorn. Blue and I made some space so Yellow was sitting between us while Crystal sat next to White.

" _Congratulations. The fact that you're watching this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday. Yes,_ you, _sitting there watching this right now._ Do not turn this off. _I'm dead serious - your life could depend on it."_ a female voice said as the words scrolled on the black screen. The prologue went on about how she and her family became the way they are and who's hunting them down. " _Keep watching - don't let anyone stop you. - Max. And my family: Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Welcome to our nightmare."_ the screen turned white before fading into a forest scene.

We watched as through the entire movie. This is hands down, my favorite movie series and book series ever. If you ever read the manga version, than you would love it even more.

This feels like home. My friends and I sitting around a TV, enjoying a movie we all love. We ended up watching the second movie as well since we still had some time leftover. When the second movie was over, we ran out of popcorn and it was already 9:30 pm.

"We'll watch the other movies tomorrow night." I said as I stood up.

"Yeah. We should head to bed now." Blue nodded.

We all helped clean up the movies and clean the kitchen after making the popcorn. We said our goodnights to each other as we went to our own rooms.

When I got to my room, Rio, Sol, and Pika were already sleeping near the desk. I smiled at the sight of them and crawled into my bed. I was tired from the day so when I closed my eyes, I didn't open them until the next morning.

* * *

 **So the gang is all together! Yay! But there's another gang that's going to be joining hem in the future! Any guesses? Leave them in a review! I want to see if anyone of you can get it right!**

 **So yeah. this isn't really the official start of school, but they're there! And with them here, there's going to be lots of surprises! And I mean lots.**

 **Since Christmas is only in two weeks. I may update next week since I will be busy playing Pokemon Moon, but I don't know yet. You just have to wait!**

 **And the little prologue for that Maximum Ride movie came straight from the book. With a few changes to it. If you haven't noticed, I am such a big fan of it. There is an actually Maximum Ride movie (finally!), but it wasn't that good. I was so sad! It was nothing like the book. I'm sorry, but I had to say that.**

 **And the book Crystal was reading is an actual fanfic on this site. It was written by Amy47101, check out her other stories, they are so great, and it is called Angel Wings. I love it. Reminds me so much of Maximum Ride, but it is a story of its own. Read it. Trust me, you won't regret it.**

 **I feel like my laptop is on its last leg. Last week, the touchpad stopped working. I know that that is a bad sign. and this thing only has four hours of battery life. I hope I get a new one soon.**

 **That's it guys! I'll see you next time! Don't forget to leave a review and a guess!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	22. First Day: Part One

**Hi everyone! Surprise update!**

 **I should make this short this time. I tend to talk. A lot.**

 **On to the reviews!**

 **thor94: Um, well remember, Red is still well, Red, but he does care for both of his children. And of course. I mean a regular league. I kinda forgot about the Orange League for a second there.**

 **.18: That's just about right. And did I forget Rald? Oops. My mistake. As for Max, he's still a bit younger than the rest of the gang, but he still knows more than most of them can, just like the anime. Concerning May, there's a lot going right now to just insert that in, but it may make an appearance soon.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Yes. It is. And yes. He is.**

 **Redstar: Yes. I'm actually excited for this movie. As for Ash, he clearly doesn't know anything about Ashley. He knows who his father is, but he doesn't know that it's Satoshi, mainly because he's clueless and can be fooled by different names and horrible disguises *cough* Team Rocket *cough*. Ash and Yellow? Hehe, just wait and see.**

 **Wow, those were long responses... Anyways, right now, I'm in the process of transferring my chapters onto somewhere safer so I'm not really writing right now. Though I have a lot of chapters that I have already written. That might be a good thing after all.**

 **Anyways! In case I don't update next week, happy holidays! I'll see you all in 2017 or sooner!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the works I refer to. Just my OCs. And there are a lot of them.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

 **Blue's POV**

"Argh!" I groaned as I looked at myself in the mirror. "Why do these uniforms have to be so ugly?!" As I said, these things were just plain hideous. I was wearing a white blouse with a gray sweater vest with the school crest on it. A black blazer with the crest on it that only went down to my waist was unbutton over my sweater vest and blouse while I had a black and grey plaid skirt that reached mid thigh. Gray over the knee socks covered most of my legs while the black high top converses I have to wear were in my hands. I'll put them on when we head out.

I was forced to abandon Ditty as my hat since hats aren't allowed. But since small pokémon are pokémon are allowed, I'll just have him transform into a bracelet or something.

"Blue! Are you done yet? Breakfast is ready!" Crystal called from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back down. I turned to my bed where Ditty, in his blob form, was waiting. "Ditty, let's go."

"Dit! Ditto!" Ditty exclaimed as he hopped on my shoulder. I grabbed my school bag with the books I need and my schedule and headed downstairs. I left my room unlocked since I could trust the other girls.

"Took you long enough." Scarlett looked at me once I got down there.

"I'm sorry, but have you seen these uniforms? They're horrible!" I complained.

"Blue, we have to wear them every day we have classes." Yellow pointed out. "Plus they're not that bad."

"They're just plain. That's all." White shrugged.

"The Team Plasma uniforms are better than these." Whi-Two added.

"You have your tie right?" Scarlett asked as she was tying her red tie.

"Of course I do!" I lowered my vest a little bit to show my red tie tucked into it.

The tie colors here represent which year you're in. Red ties are for fourth years, green ties are for third years, blue for second years, while yellow was for the first years. Scarlett, Yellow, and I were wearing red ties while Crystal and White had their green ties tucked in their vests like the rest of us. Whi-Two was the only one here wearing a blue tie since she's a second year.

"Alright, enough talking." Crystal handed me a bowl of rice and eggs. "Eat up; class starts in half an hour."

"Crystal, I know you want to get to class early, but the academy is like a five minute walk from here." Scarlett pointed out. "We don't need to rush."

"I know, but there's a ceremony to celebrate the new school year and we need to be there. It's required for all students to go." Crystal explained. "And it starts in ten minutes."

"Why didn't you tell us that earlier?!" I yelled at her.

"I tried to, but everyone was too tired from the movie we watched last night!" she replied.

Everyone quickly stuffed their breakfast of rice and eggs down before we all put on our shoes and grabbed our bags.

"Ditty! Bracelet!" I told him. Ditty crawled over and transformed into a simple silver bracelet on my left wrist.

We all rushed outside to see the boys already walking ahead of us.

"Wait up!" I called out to them.

"Nee-san, if you just got ready faster, than we would've walked together." Silver pointed out.

"We could've still waited for us!" Scarlett shouted.

"Hey, you knew that we have to come early today." X shrugged.

"Don't you start with me." Scarlett growled.

"Let's just go already." Crystal sighed.

We walked along to the academy. Several other groups of kids were walking same as us as we approached the metal gates. Up ahead, I could see a crowd of students already there.

"Hey, did we ever think about having our scooters with us?" Black wondered out loud.

"We did last year, but we forgot about this year?" Lack-Two facepalmed.

"Dad's already getting them transported over here." Scarlett said. "They should be here next week."

"Um, that's good and all, but the ceremony's starting!" Gold pointed out. We all faced the large stage that was set up in front of the school buildings. Professor Oak was standing on stage with Gary and Ash standing to the side.

"Welcome students, to another wonderful year at the Mastery for the Gifted Academy!" Professor Oak spoke into a microphone. "I would like to welcome all the returning and new students we have this year! But I can't because that's the job of the student council president, my grandson, Gary Oak!"

"Thanks Gramps." Gary said as he grabbed the microphone from his grandpa. "It's good to see both new and old faces. I, as your student council president, would like to offer any student, new or returning, the chance to run against me this year."

Hmm, a chance to have an entire student body to do my bidding? Who wouldn't pass that up?

"I'll run against you!" I yelled as I waved my hand in the air.

"Blue! What are you doing?" Scarlett and Yellow hissed as they pulled me down.

"I'm going to show these people what real people can do!" I told them before I pushed my way through the crowd to get to the stage.

"Ow!"

"Watch it!"

"Bitch!"

"Who does she thinks she is?"

"Hey beautiful."

"You're not getting any closer." a line of girls suddenly blocked my way as I got to the front of the crowd. A girl with dark purple hair and golden eyes stepped up. "We are not going to let you get any closer to Gary-san or Ash-san!"

"Oh yeah? And who's going to stop me?" I retorted.

"The Dexholders Club!" all of the girls had an ID card with their pictures and a golden seal.

"Violet Yuri! President of the Dexholders Club." the girl who stepped up stated. "As president, I forbid you from getting any closer to any of the Dexholders."

"Blue!" Scarlett and Yellow caught up with me. "What the hell are you thinking?!" Scarlett hissed at me.

"More?" Violet raised a brow.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" X ran up to us.

"X!" the girls screamed.

"Sableye! Shadow Ball!" Violet threw a pokéball at us and a Sableye popped out, who fired a Shadow Ball at us, separating us from X.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Scarlett shouted at her.

"Protect X!" Violet shouted to the other girls. "And send these other girls packing."

"Um, Blue? I don't like the looks of this." Yellow said as she, Scarlett, and I were forced back to back.

"Yellow, I know you hate battling, but we have to do something to protect ourselves with." I told her as Ditty transformed from my bracelet and into a Pikachu. Pika was already in front of Scarlett while Chuchu jumped off Yellow's shoulder and in front of her.

"Ha! You think we can beat us with those rodents?" Violet sneered. "We'll show you!" the rest of the girls sent out their pokémon, which varied from different Poison, Dark and Ghost types. Now I see why these girls are so psycho.

"Blue, it's your call. If we do this, we might get in trouble before class even starts." Scarlett told me.  
"Or we can teach these girls a lesson." I retorted.

"But we can't battle unless a staff member officiate it." Yellow pointed out.

"Battle begin!" we looked on the stage to see Red standing there. He was smiling at us.

"And it just did." Scarlett smirked.

"On three?" I looked at the both of them.

"One," Yellow turned to the girls.

"Two," Scarlett was grinning as madly as Pika was.

"Three!" I shouted.

"Thunder!" we all shouted at the same time. All three Pikachu summoned up a giant lightning strike within each of them and fried every pokémon that was sent out.

"Ah! Sableye!" Violet cried out at her fainted pokémon. "You'll pay for this!" she glared at us before returning her pokémon. "We'll show you the power we all have! Go!"

"Stop!" a Hyper Beam was fired between us and the fan girls. "Enough." Professor Oak was standing on stage with a Dragonite. "This is inappropriate behavior."

"Sir, sorry if I caused any trouble." Violet pouted. Ass-kisser.

"Violet, sorry is not enough this time." Professor Oak said. "I am forced to call your parents."

"No! Please don't call my daddy!" Violet pleaded. "That bitch started it!" she pointed a finger at me.

"What?!" I exclaimed. Okay, taking the blame for my friends are one thing, but having this stupid slut blames me? That's a whole new level! "Now listen here you whore-!"

"Blue." Red glared at me.

"Sorry sir." I looked down at my feet.

"Professor, sorry if my foster daughters were behaving inappropriately. Blue, Scarlett, and Yellow were only trying to defend each other. They are sisters after all." Red told Professor Oak.

"Since Violet was the one who engaged them in battle, I supposed I can excuse them from this incident." Professor Oak sighed. "But, they would have to work very hard to have this overlooked."

"Thank you Professor!" Scarlett, Yellow, and I bowed down to him.

"Now, I heard that you would like to run for Student Council President?" Professor Oak asked me.

"Yes sir!" I nodded.

"Then come up here." he waved me up.

The girls who tried to block my path reluctantly moved out of the way. On my way up, Violet was giving me a death glare so I flipped the bird with my hand behind my back to her. She's going to have a lot more coming her way if she keeps on messing with me this year.

"What's your name?" Professor Oak asked me.

"Blue. Blue Aoi." I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Then let the better person win!" Professor Oak announced. "Gary, Blue, shake hands."

"Pesky woman." I heard Gary mumble under his breath as he stuck his hand out.

"I see that you're going to be such a Mr Wonderful this year." I muttered as I shook his hand.

Once the awkward clapping stopped, I stepped off the stage and met up with Scarlett, Yellow, and X waiting there with Red standing next to them.

"Satoshi, my office when you have some time." I heard Professor Oak whisper to Red as he walked passed.

"Is everything okay?" Scarlett asked.

"It's fine." He waved it off. "There are still a few minutes until class starts so we can round up our homeroom. By the way, call me Satoshi until the mission is over." he whispered to us.

"Hey guys!" Serena, May, Dawn, Ash, Gary, Lucas, Brendan, and Barry walked up to us.

"Don't tell me, you bitches are in his homeroom too?" Violet was glaring at us with two other girls flanking her side. One was a greenette with void black eyes while the other had pure white hair and dark purple eyes. Not like that pretty kind of purple. No, that doesn't fit her at all. If anything, they're some sort of evil shade of purple. If there's such a thing. In my eyes, Violet looks like a devil cat with her narrow golden eyes while the greenette looking like a witch with the white haired girl being some kind of ghost. But that's my own opinion. Still, overall, they're all spawns of the greatest evil there is in this world.

"Lucky us." Scarlett rolled her eyes. "We have to deal with a trio of mean girls who got in the school just because of their daddies."

"That is not true!" the greenette shouted. "We are the top and best Trainers of our generations."

"That's because your daddies paid the magazines to say that." I retorted.

"The magazines said that because we can beat anyone!" Violet exclaimed.

"Yeah, that says a lot after what just happened." Scarlett smirked.

"In a real battle, I would wipe the floor with you." the greenette hissed in Scarlett's face.

"I like to see you try." Scarlett retorted.

"Can't we just get along?" Yellow got between the two of them. "We are making a bad first impression."

"Oh, a Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes." the girl with white hair spoke up. "And if we don't back down, what are you going to do about it?"

"U-Um...," Yellow stuttered.

"Leave her alone." Serena, Dawn, and May stood between us and Violet and her friends.

"Every year it's the same, and we're already sick of it." May glared at them.

"If you want to bully any of them," Dawn started.

"Then you also have to deal with us." Serena finished.

"Tch. They're not worth the effort." Violet spat at us. "Let's go." her two lackeys followed her away from us.

"Thanks for standing up to us." I thanked them.

"It's no problem." Serena waved it off. "We are friends after all!"

"If those sluts want to come at one of us again, than they have to go through all of us!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That's... nice." Yellow sweatdropped at her excitement.

"Alright! Everyone follow me!" Satoshi yelled to us. I looked around and saw that our homeroom was fairly small. Including the three of us, our new friends, X and his friends, and those bitchy girls, there was only fifteen of us. And that's it. Those are the only people in our homeroom.

"So do you guys know Ash and his friends?" I asked Serena as we walked towards one of the buildings.

"Oh, we all used to travel with him!" Serena answered. "Than through him, we all met his cousins and friends."

"Though some of them we met before." May added. "Like Brendan, he lived in Littleroot Town where I used to travel to all the time with my dad when they first moved in to welcome them!"

"Lucas lives in Sandgem Town with his dad and little sister, but he used to live in Twinleaf Town where I played with him and Barry all the time when I was little!" Dawn explained.

"For me, I met Ash himself when we were at Professor Oak's Summer Camp when we were little. I tripped and scraped my knee after getting startled by a Poliwag and Ash helped me out! I didn't find him till like five years later though." Serena answered. "What about you guys? How do you know each other?" she asked.

Damn, how should we play this? Usually we say that we're just really close friends, but Satoshi just had to say that we're foster sisters.

"Actually, Blue was friends with Yellow before Satoshi took them in." Scarlett interrupted my thoughts. "Then when Blue had nowhere to go, Satoshi took her in along with her adopted brother. Then Yellow was taken in. Satoshi took me in just a little over a year ago."

"What about me?" X butted into our conversation.

"Sorry, but I don't remember asking you to join." Scarlett glared at him.

"I know, but I just felt like it." he smirked.

Oh, that reminds me, I have a lot of work to do this year. My first mission, Project: Adoreshipping.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

The academy was split into several buildings. Building A was where all of the homeroom classes are. There were four floors, one for each year. Since we're fourth years, we're on the fourth floor.

Then there's the B building. That's the battling center point. The more advance battling class you're taking, the higher up floor you're on, with the fourth floor as the highest.

Building C is where you connect and grow closer to your pokémon. Basic courses are on the first three floors, but on the fourth floor, it's reserved for Mega Evolution.

The D building is for contests and showcases. They built it so each floor will adapt to how advance the class is, with the highest one on the fourth floor.

Building E was the scientific building so future scientists for various fields can have all they need. It also houses all of the equipment people might need to research pokémon or any other pokémon related technology.

The F building is for breeders and future pokémon nurses where they learn to intensively care and heal pokémon.

The last building, or the G building, was filled with recreation stuff and clubs. All of the clubs and other activities are located there. There was the student council room, a library, a music room, and even a printing shop of the academy newspaper. Since there's a really nice art studio there, I might go check it out during my free hour.

But it's too boring to call the buildings by their letters so the other students call them by what they hold. Building A becomes the homeroom stop. Building B is the Battle Tower. Building C is the Bond Place. Building D is transformed into a Performance Hall. Building E is just called the Lab. Building F is dubbed the Healing Shop. Building G is called the Lounge since you can do anything you want in there with its different facilities.

I looked around as we walked into the homeroom building. All of the girls were wearing the same uniforms except, Violet and her friends were wearing theirs a little too low at their chest and too high for their skirts. The boys were wearing uniforms similar to the girls', but they were wearing black slacks instead of skirts and their blazers reach all the way to their hips instead of just reaching their waist.

We walked up three sets of stairs, with Violet and her friends complaining all the way, until we reached our classroom at the end of the hallway.

"Just sit anyway you want. I'll assign seats tomorrow." Satoshi told us as he unlocked the door. I looked around the room and saw that it was very plain with windows taking up part of one wall. Fifteen desks with five desks in three rows were spaciously spread out. The first five desks faced the front in a straight line and the rest followed that order.

Ash and his friends took up the front desks while Violet and her lackeys sat in the very back, taking up two seats at the very back row with Violet sitting in front of the other two. Dawn, May, and Serena took it upon themselves to block the Terrible Trio leaving four seats open for X, Scarlett, Blue, and I in a square fashion.

Scarlett sat in the upper left seat, next to the windows with X seating next to her. Blue sat behind X so I sat behind Scarlett.

I really don't like sitting in the back, but there's only two other desks in front of me so it wasn't really bad. I could talk to my friends while May, Dawn, and Serena were also in reach to talk to. We're far from Violet and her very rude friends so that makes me happy. I looked passed Scarlett to see Ash sitting in front of her with Gary next to him. Then, going from left to right, it was Lucas, Brendan, and Barry. Dawn was sitting behind Lucas and May was sitting behind Brendan. Barry was stuck with Violet making flirty faces him. Serena was sitting next to the greenette who seemed to be glaring at Scarlett. The white haired girl was just staring intensively towards the front. She really does give me the creeps.

"Alright, I think like this set up." Satoshi said as he walked behind his desk. "If no trouble arises, then I'll keep it this way." he turned around and picked up a piece of chalk from the tray connected to the chalkboard facing us and behind his desk. He began writing his name, 'Satoshi' in big letters.

"My name is Satoshi Crimson." he said as he dusted off his hand after placing the chalk down. "But you can just call me Mr. Satoshi."

"Um, Mr Satoshi?" Violet raised her hand up innocently. I looked over and saw Blue pretending to gag. "I have never heard of you before as a Gym Leader or Champion. So how were you able to work here?"

"Good question." Satoshi cleared his throat. "Yes, I am not a Gym Leader, but I was the Indigo Plateau Champion."

"So like, both the Kanto and Johto leagues?" Ash raised his hand next.

"Yes. I won both of them." he nodded. "But I had to step down to care for some children who were in need of some caretaking."

I looked at Scarlett to see that see was rolling her eyes and was looking out of the window. Clearly, she wasn't very amused at this. I feel bad for her. She went through so much as a little kid. I hope she won't find out the real truth. And I really don't want to be the one to tell her.

"Since we only have fifteen minutes in here, I want everyone to introduce themselves. Just stand up, tell everyone your full name, your age, and what you're hoping to become." Satoshi stated. "We'll go around the room. Barry, you go first."

"I'm Barry Pearl Jun! I'm 17 and I want to become a Frontier Brain just like my dad!" Barry stood up. I still remember him when he ran into me last year.

"I'm Brendan Ruby Birch and I'm 17. I want to become a Gym Leader and battle as many trainers as I can!"

"I'm Lucas Diamond Kouki. I'm 17 and I want to become a researcher to just relax and enjoy what pokémon has to offer the world."

"I'm Gary Green Oak. I'm 17 and I want to become a researcher like my gramps. I don't know what I want to study yet, but I'll find it."

"I'm Ash Satoshi Ketchum and I'm 17! I want to become a Pokémon Master with my partner Pikachu by my side!"

"I'm Violet Nightshade Yuri. I'm 17 and I want to be a Pokémon Designer like my mother, Lila!"

"I'm May Sapphire Maple and I'm 17. I want to become a World Famous Coordinator!"

"I'm Dawn Platinum Berlitz. I'm 17 and I also want to become a World Famous Coordinator!"

"I'm Xavier Calem Inochi, but you can just call me X. I'm 17 and I just want to be a really good battler."

"I'm Scarlett Satoko Sacha and I'm 17. I want to be the best I can."

"I'm Opal Raini Kaze. I'm 17. I want to become a strong battler."

"I'm Jade Geode Tsuchi. I'm 17 and I want to be a Top Coordinator!"

"I'm Serena Yvonne Gabena. I'm 16 and I want to become the best Performer ever!"

"I'm Blue Leaf Aoi and I'm 17. I want to become a powerful trainer and show off!"

Great. Now it's my turn. We never discuss middle names before, but judging from the others, I'll just use my real name.

"My name is Amarillo Amber del Bosque Verde, but you can call me Yellow. I'm 16 and I want to help every pokémon." I said quietly as I stood up.

"You're only 16? Aren't you supposed to be with the other third years? Oh, I mean first years. You're so small! You don't look like you belong here!" Violet exclaimed.

"Violet." Satoshi glared at her. "Yellow, here, was smart enough to skip a year so she is a fourth year."

While Satoshi had his back turned, Violet rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Until the bell rings, you can all talk amongst yourselves." Satoshi said as he sat down behind his desk.

"Guys?" Scarlett turned around to face us along with X. "Does it seem weird that Ash has the same last name as I did?" she whispered to us.

Oh no. She's starting to find out on her own! And it doesn't help that both of Red's kids are in the same homeroom! I just hope they're not in any other classes.

"Scarlett, Ketchum can be a very common name." Blue told her. "Don't worry about it."

"I guess I was being a bit paranoid." Scarlett said. "I just thought he looked familiar somehow. I guess I was wrong."

As Scarlett turned back around, Blue, X, and I shared an alarmed look. She's going to find out soon.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

 _Ring!_

"Remember! You are allowed flying pokémon to get to your next classes, but you must return them after!" Satoshi called out to us as the windows opened up. They were big enough to let an average sized person to jump out of.

"Char!" Char cried out as I called him out.

"Where are you going?" Ash asked as he let out a Pidgeot.

"Battle Tower!" I said as I jumped out of the window and on Char. X was already next to me on his own Charizard.

"Want to head there together?" Ash asked as he jumped on Pidgeot.

"You have a class there too?" X asked.

"Advance Battling with Lance." Ash replied.

"We'll see you guys later! We'll meet you at lunch!" Blue and Yellow called out as they flew towards the Bond Place.

"Let's go than." I said. X and I flew ahead of Ash. Since our class was on the third floor, we landed on the roof, with other students doing the same. We returned our pokémon and went down two sets of stairs.

 _I feel a very familiar aura from that Ash boy._ Rio told me from inside her pokéball.

 _I know; I feel some sort of connection to him. But I don't know why._ I told her.

My school bag was hanging from both of my shoulders as X opened the door to the classroom. It wasn't really a classroom, but more of a stadium. There was a full sized battlefield with a one hundred or so seats in two level stands surround it.

"Take a sit anywhere." A man with fiery red hair spiked up flew doing on a Dragonite. "We'll begin when everyone gets here."

"Don't you also find it weird that Champions are teachers here when they're supposed to be at their league?" I asked X as Ash, X, and I sat down.

"They just changed the rules so Champions only have to do defend their titles during the summer." X explained. "While they're gone, the Elite Four takes over."

"What about the Gym Leaders than?" Ash asked.

"They-" he stopped. "Actually, I don't know."

"The system is still messed up." I sighed.

"Hey! You guys have this too?" Barry sat behind us.

"What else does it look like?" I raised a brow.

"Ash!" a younger boy with dark green hair and glasses sat down next to him.

"Hey Max. How was your homeroom?" Ash messed up the younger boy's hair.

"We have a lot of new kids this year." Max replied.

"Yeah, like how Whi-Two has a crush." Lack-Two walked in with Whi-Two next to him.

"Shut up!" she was blushing as they sat down behind X and I. "You also met a girl you like!"

"Oh, you guys have your first crushes?" I smirked at them. "I guess this is just Arceus' way of payback since you guys are always teasing White and Black."

"What about me?" Black sat down next to them.

"Nothing!" they shouted.

"What did I miss?" Gold walked in with Silver by his side. They sat down next to Black.

"Just more people coming in." X pointed to a trio heading towards Ash. After meeting all of them (I'm surprised that there was still time before class started), I learned that their names were Paul, Trip, and Ritchie. Supposedly, they were Ash's main rivals.

"Argh. How did you end up in this class?" I looked up to see Jade walking towards us.

"What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to be a Coordinator." I glared at her.

"I do, but my daddy is making me take a battling class so I randomly chose this one." Jade rolled her eyes. "How were second years able to get in this class?"

"Um, this second year was able to pass all of the other battling courses without the help of their father." Max glared at her.

"And we were smart and powerful enough to skip an entire year." Lack-Two and Whi-Two glared at her as well. Ah, we have certainly taught them well.

"Whatever." Jade rolled her eyes again. She smirked as she casted a glance at X. "X? You don't mind if I sit next to you, don't you?" she asked in an innocent voice as she sat down next to him, grabbing onto his arm.

"Um, I guess not." he replied as he tried to inch away from her, but her grip was too strong. He looked towards me with a look on his face that said, 'HELP ME! Kill me if you have to! Just get this girl off of me!'

 _She is such a, oh what's the word?_ I said to myself.

 _Total bitch, slut, whore, and the list go on._ Rio listed to me.

 _Not helping. Can you pick up anything from her?_ I asked Rio.

 _Other than what I just said? Yes. These girls are not very quiet. Jade is the daughter of Silph Co.'s current president. Because of that, she gets everything she wants. She became friends with that venomous Violet and creepy Opal since Lila used to design Jade's father's suits while Opal, as the daughter of the president of the very mysterious Game Freak, used to play with Jade and Violet when all of their parents come together to talk about new suits or something._ Rio answered.

 _Anything school related?_ I asked.

 _Violet is the head president of that stupid fan club as well as the Gary branch. Jade is president of the X branch while Opal is part of the Ash branch._ she replied.

 _They have to have their own branches? Arceus, these girls are crazy._ I sighed mentally.

 _You're telling me._ Rio said from inside her pokéball.

"Pika pi?" Pika asked as she looked up at me.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." I told her quietly. I caught Jade glaring at me while she was clinging to a very uncomfortable X. I felt a burning feeling inside of me, but I don't know why. Could I be jealous? No, that's ridiculous! Why would I feel jealous for? We're not even together! I'm not sure if he even likes me! Does he?

Suddenly, a Hyper Beam was shot down from above and left the battlefield in a cloud of dust. I had to cover my eyes, but when I opened them again, Lance was standing there with his Dragonite next to him.

"Welcome to Advance Battling Techniques." his voice boomed across the room. "As all of you will now, I am the Champion Lance, but you can call me Mr Lance. The way I like to start each year is to see who is the strongest and who is the cleverest. Now, do I have any volunteers?"

Normally, I don't go first, but something compelled me to raise my hand. By something, I meant Black and Gold wrestling to see who can raise their hands first. Since they were right behind me, I had to raise my arms up to protect myself.

"Miss Sacha! Thank you for volunteering!" Lance said.

"Shit." I muttered. Reluctantly, I rose out of my seat while hearing Gold's and Black's whining behind me. I walked towards the set of stairs into the stand and down to the battle field.

Before I could reach the bottom of the stairs, I heard a very, very, very annoying voice shout out "I want to battle her!"

I looked up and saw Jade jump out of her seat. She was red in the face with steam practically coming out of her face. She stomped her way over to the stairs, stepping on Paul's, Max's, Trip's, and Ritchie's toes, since they were in our row. I could tell that because of the grunts they gave and their glares at Jade.

I backed towards Lance as Jade was coming right towards me.

"Ladies, take your places at either end." Lance told us. Jade gave me a death stare before stomping towards the right side of the battle field. I walked towards the left side and when I got ready in the small box, Pika hopped off of my shoulders and right next to me.

"Send out your pokémon!" Lance told us.

"See if you can beat me!" Jade threw out a pokéball. When the pokéball opened, a Roserade popped out. Now, you know how a Roserade is supposed to have a red bouquet of flowers as its right hand and a blue one for its left? Yeah, well this one doesn't. The regular leafy green color of a Roserade was replaced by a sickly yellow-green on this one while a purple bouquet of flowers was attached to its right hand and a black one was on its left. Overall, it was a shiny Roserade.

"Rose!" Roserade took a battle stance.

"How do you like my precious Roserade? My daddy got it for me for my 13th birthday!" Jade sneered.

 _Send me out! I want to beat her so bad!_ Rio shouted from inside her pokéball. _I want to show her what a real shiny can do!_

 _Not yet._ I told her mentally.

"Sol! Set for battle!" I threw Sol's pokéball out.

"Absol!" Sol howled as she popped out.

"What's that on its neck? A collar?" Jade pointed at Sol's Mega Collar. "How pathetic. Trying to give your pokémon some beauty when my pokémon has some naturally already." she sneered as she flipped her hair.

"Ab." Sol growled as her Mega Stone and my Keystone glowed faintly.

"This is not the right time." I told Sol quietly. She gave me a shocked look, but went back to staring down the Roserade.

"Battle! Begin!" Lance announced.

"Roserade! Grassy Terrain!" Jade ordered.

"Rose! Rade!" Roserade slammed both of her bouquets onto the ground and an illusion of grassy fields filled the battlefield.

"Sol! Get behind Roserade!" I commanded.

"Ab." Sol nodded before she dashed towards Roserade.

"Poison Sting! Don't let it get near you!" Jade ordered. Roserade thrust her arms in front of her and her bouquets glowed purple. Several shots of purple thorns shot out and were headed towards Sol.

"Jump!" I told Sol. Before the Poison Sting could hit her, Sol jumped high in the air, over Roserade, and landed right behind her.

"Now! Shadow Claw at the ground!" I commanded. Sol's claws became outlined in a dark shadow behind she swept them at the ground below her. A cloud of dust was picked up.

"Roserade! Use Magical Leaf! Chase that Absol out!" Jade ordered.

Through the cloud of dust, I could see the faint rainbow glow of several Magical Leaves before Absol came racing out of the cloud of dust.

"Gotcha now!" Jade exclaimed. "Now, even more leaves!"

"Rade!" Roserade cried out from into the cloud of dust. More leaves outlined in a rainbow aura shot through before they began Sol.

"Quick! Back into the dust cloud!" I shouted. Sol was already trying to outrun the Magical Leaf, but since they could never miss, they all followed her.

Sol heard what I said and jumped into the dust cloud. The leaves followed her in and soon after, an explosion was heard.

"Psycho Cut!" I ordered. The dust cloud glowed a pink color before a smoke cloud replaced the dust along with another explosion. When the smoke cleared, Roserade was lying on the floor fainted while Sol, with the pink glow in her horn fading, was standing over her.

"Roserade is unable to battle! That means Sol and Scarlett are the winners!" Lance announced.

"You did great, girl." I praised Sol when she trotted over.

"Absol!" Sol smiled and I petted her.

"What? But how?" Jade was shocked. "How was your fleabag able to beat my Roserade in one shot?!"

I glared at Jade as Sol was growling at her. "Perhaps you should learn more about pokémon. My Sol has the ability Super Luck meaning the chances of landing a critical hit are higher. When I ordered Sol to jump in that dust cloud, she jumped behind Roserade, who was still tired from summoning all those leaves, and used her own attack to weaken her. With the boost from Grassy Terrain, it caused more damage than it should have to Roserade. The Psycho Cut was a critical hit due to Sol's ability and was able to knock Roserade out due to Psycho Cut being a Psychic type move and Roserade being a Grass and Poison type." I explained.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Lance nodded at me. "Both of you, take your seats."

I returned Sol and took my seat back between Ash and X. I smiled to myself as my friends gave me compliments as Max commented on my strategy. Jade was glaring at me before she went back to squeezing X's arm until it turned blue. I felt that bang in my gut again as Jade was make flirty faces at X. I really want to give her a black eye!

I watched as the others went. Black vs Gold, Gold won. Lack-Two vs Max, Max won. Whi-Two vs Silver, Silver won. Paul vs Trip, it was a tie. Barry vs Ritchie, another tie. Ash vs X, it was a tie. In case of a tie, they had to flip a coin. Because of that, Trip, Barry, and X won.

After the first round, we went again. Gold vs Silver, a tie. Max vs Barry, Barry won. Trip vs X, X won. Since there was an odd amount, I had to wait till the next round. Gold won the coin flip because of his gambling nature.

Third round of battles. Gold vs X, X won. Barry vs me, I won.

And then there was the battle to be repeated. I stuck with Sol throughout all my battles, and it seemed like X learned something watching me. I lost against him. X wasn't holding back at all, but I'm fine with it. That was a very close battle though. One more Night Slash and I would've had him. At least wasn't as stressful as the battle we had a few months ago. It's amazing how we were able to fit this many battles in just an hour with just one battlefield.

"I hope these battles taught you something; power is not enough to win a battle. Strategy is also required. Even if your opponent is more powerful than you, the tables can be turned if you plan ahead well enough to win." Lance said when class was almost over. "You're dismissed." he said once the bell rang. In the walls, windows opened up above the stands. I called out Char and hopped on him.

"To the Performance Hall." I told him quietly. I don't know if I can do the contest thing. I know nothing about contests! Arceus help me.

* * *

 **So this is part one of the three parts of the first day! Yeah, that might seem unnecessary, but that's how it ended up.**

 **I hope you saw where I was going with their names too!**

 **And what do we have here? Rivals? What school story doesn't have that? We'll be sure to see more them.**

 **Any more guesses for the new gang coming in? Hmm? Here's a hint, it's connected to my other stories!**

 **Till next time!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	23. First Day: Part Two

**Hi everyone!**

 **If you haven't noticed, I posted a little short story a few days ago and be sure to check it out. It's my first time doing anything like that and I want to know what you think about it!**

 **So this is part two of the first day. There's going to be one more part to this so this is going to be out of the way soon.**

 **Not much to say left except for the reviews.**

 **thor94: Thanks and Ash will have his time to shine soon. Don't worry!**

 **.18: (Ch 22) I'm going to have his team in rotation so his team is never set in stone. I wanted to put their Japanese names in there as well as their Adventures names and since some of them already had some set last names, that was what I came up with. A nickname for Ash? I don't think so. It wouldn't make that much sense since Ashley and the others are the only ones right now who have weird names. And what can of story would that be then? You just have to wait and find out! (Ch 1) Um, thanks? I think.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I have to admit, your review made me laugh out loud. Seriously, that made my entire day. But I ensure you, there will be no incest going on here. As for Yellow, that's an interesting thought, but sweet little Yellow will never go that far. For now.**

 **That should be enough for now. So I'll just do the disclaimer and you can get to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Pokemon or the original works I will refer to in my chapters. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

 **White's POV**

Finally! The first hour was over! Being next to that awful Ebony was torture. Ever since she found out that I was friends with Black in homeroom, she has made my first class a nightmare. She had Theatre Design with me and she spent the entire class glaring at me. She finally backed off once I showed her Darling's dance moves when we had to showcase our pokémon.

Right now, I'm having Barbara fly me to the Lounge. According to the school handbook, there was an entire theatre wing there. I'm going to use that place as my chance to really shine at this school. Every day for my free hour, which was the second hour, I'm going to be there.

I'm just glad Whi-Two can get around on her own now. Since our dorms have their own healing machine and PC in the nightstand, we can easily swap our pokémon out. Whi-Two swapped her Dake-chan out for her female Unfezant, Ken-chan. Similarly, Lack-Two finally decided to have a full party and took out his male Unfezant.

I had Barbara land on the ground near the entrance. I returned her and walked through the double glass doors. There was a map to where everything was in the building.

"Theatre, theatre, theatre, ah! There it is!" I stopped my finger on the Theatre Office. "G114." I rushed off to the hallway with the sign 'G101-G125'. I looked at each door before I found the one I was looking for. There was a sign up sheet on the door.

"Theater Club." I read out loud. "Sign up for the Pokespe Theatre Club! We hold two plays and two musicals each year!" I immediately picked up the attached pencil to the sheet and wrote my name under 'Director' and 'Stage Manager'. I'm sure to get one of those.

Now what to do? The club isn't going to be meeting until next week. I sighed as I leaned on the wall next to the door. I placed a hand on my head. It feels weird without my hat on. At least I don't have to pull my ponytail though the back anymore.

"White!" I turned around towards the sound of my name. I saw Blue running up to me. "You have a free hour too?" she asked.

"Yeah. I just signed up for the Theatre Club." I pointed to the sheet on the door.

"You doing anything else today?" she asked.

"Other than our classes? Nope." I shook my head.

"Then can you help me with my campaign? I'm sure someone with your management skills could help me win!" she said.

"You mean as a campaign manager?" I asked. She nodded. "I'll do it." I nodded.

"Thanks! Let's go to the town to talk about ideas!" Blue dragged me out of the building. We flew on our pokémon, or in Blue's case, Ditty as an Altaria, to the town where we sat on a bench in the park.

"Now, what are you thinking of doing as president?" I asked her as I brought a notebook out of my school bag.

"Since the entire council is made up of boys who are Gary's friends, I want to make it a bit more equal and assign more positions to girls. I also want this school to be a bit friendlier. You saw what happened this morning." Blue looked at me.

"Yes I did." I nodded. "At the same time you were going against those girls up there, the rest of us had our own problems since we were hanging out with the boys. And they were in our homeroom too." I snorted as I thought of Ebony.

"Yeah, so you get that idea." Blue continued. "And I want more games or things like that at this academy. From what Silver told me, the school year is very boring. There were already battle competitions, but there were no Contests or Showcases or anything else for the other students. I want to make this school for truly everyone!" Blue beamed.

"That's a really good start." I wrote down what she said in the notebook. "We have a week to get your word out before the school votes next week. We need more help if you want to win."

"I'll get the girls to help!" Blue suggested. "Maybe force the boys too. Do you think you can get any of your friends to help too?"

"Lyra might want to help. She's also pissed off at this male dominated and boring school." I nodded. "According to the past records, the boys has always been stronger than girls since there was only one girls only and one girls and boys tournament each year. The other two are for boys."

"That's going to change with me!" Blue exclaimed. "Come on! We should get started!" Ditty changed from her bracelet to a megaphone.

"Blue? What are you-?" I was cut off when Blue rushed from the bench and towards the fountain in the middle of the town. I quickly gathered up my stuff and grabbed both of our bags as I followed her.

"Attention students!" I found her standing on top of the fountain that was shaped like Manaphy and the Temple of the Sea. "As you all know, I am Blue Aoi and I'm running against Gary Oak to be student council president!"

I facepalmed when I saw her. This is not what I meant.

"What makes you think you can go up someone like Gary-senpai?!" a girl yelled out from the crowd already gathering.

"Gary has not provided equality for us girls! He had proved that boys are always stronger with only one chance for us to shine alongside the boys! He has filled the seats in the student council with boys who only have one thing on their minds: battling. Where's the chances for Coordinators, Performers, Scientists, Stylists, or Breeders to show their skills?" Blue shouted in the megaphone. "Where are the chances for underappreciated skilled trainers to shine?"

I heard some murmurs going through the crowd.

"She's right."

"Could she really be better for us?"

"Why were we so blind?"

"What are you going to do about it?" a boy yelled out.

"If I am your student council president, I plan to have more competitions for every skill set, for both girls and boys, and for everyone at this academy! I will finally bring equality to this academy that it rightfully deserves!" Blue raised her fist high in the air.

"Can you promise that?" another student yelled out.

"Promise that? I will personally see to it!" Blue exclaimed. "But I can only do that if you vote for me for president!"

"Yeah!" the entire crowd roared. They were still chattering about that when Blue stepped down from the fountain.

"I have to say, that was not the way I would've taken, but it seems like it works. You got your word out there." I said as I handed her bag to her.

"If you want to change something, say it loud!" Blue winked as she put her bag on.

"We have ten minutes left until our next class. Let's discuss ways to spread your word even wider without drawing a crowd." I said as we walked around town.

* * *

 **Crystal's POV**

"Okay, so Guide to the Pokédex was a pain in the butt." I complained to Yellow as we flew out of the Lab together. I just had Guide to the Pokédex while Yellow had Pokémon Anatomy right next door. "And that stupid Quartz. Ever since homeroom, she's been in all of my classes and have been acting like a total bitch towards me!" I ranted.

"Um, who's Quartz?" Yellow asked.

"She's an uptight little bitch who thinks she's all that because her daddy is Professor Elm's head assistant." I grumbled. "I used to work directly for Professor Elm _and_ Oak!"

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing to shout out loud, Crystal." Yellow looked at me.

"It's not like people can hear us up here." I rolled my eyes.

"Where are you going to?" she asked.

"Pokémon Nutrition and Wellness." I answered her. "You?"

"Intensive Care." she answered.

"Guess we're heading towards the same place. I heard they're both advance classes." I said as the Healing Shop came into view. This campus is so big. I'm glad that they let us use our pokémon to fly us around campus.

"Hi girls!" a girl with her brown hair parted to either side of her face flew up with us. Wasn't her name May? She had a Beautifly out with a faint blue outline around the both of them.

"Hi May." Yellow smiled.

"Where are you heading to?" May asked.

"Healing Shop." I answered.

"I'm heading there too!" May said. "Since I'm making Pokeblocks for my contests, I need to learn a thing or two in Pokémon Nutrition and Wellness."

"We're in the same class than." I nodded.

"Guess we are!" May exclaimed as we all landed. We returned our pokémon as more students were landing on the roof.

"I'll see you guys later!" Yellow waved to us as she rushed down the stairs on the roof.

"How has your day been going?" I asked as we walked down together.

"Hmm. Not bad." May shrugged. "Homeroom was as bit crazy since we had these awful girls in our class. I have a feeling that they're each going to go after one of your friends."

"Sounds like a bitch I know." I mumbled. An image of Quartz making my life a horror while kissing up to Ms Roxanne last class popped in my mind.

"What was that?" May asked.

"Oh, it was nothing!" I put on a fake smile.

"Than in my first class, I had Path to a Leader since my dad is Norman and he teaches the class." May said. "He wanted me in the class so I can get better as a trainer even though I'm not going to be a Gym Leader. Than for my second class, I had The Art of Contests with Ms Diantha! I'm surprised that she's teaching the class, but she did have Wallace as her assistant teacher."

"Diantha's teaching a contest class?" I raised a brow.

"I know, but since she is a movie star and all, it does make a bit of sense. Oh! And Scarlett was in that class too! When we showed our appeals, her appeal was amazing! And when she told us that she never did contests before, I thought she was lying! She did to have a bit of a rivalry with Jade though. I wouldn't blame her though. Jade's a witch." May finished.

I tuned May out as we continued walking. Scarlett being good at contests? That's new. She's always been into battling. But I guess that she has many layers we don't about. Than those girls in her class. Sounds like everyone's been having problems with a pest of their own. Quartz was bad enough for me.

I snapped out of my thoughts when we entered the room. There were several lab tables set up. Instead of a science kit on each one, there was a sink and a pantry in the back of the room. In the front, three men who looked similar, but not the same, to each other. I recognized them as the Gym Leaders of Striaton City: Cilan, Chili, and Cress.

"Let's sit over here!" May dragged me over to a table near the front. As I was setting my bag on the floor, I looked under the counter. I saw that there were several utensils for cooking and eating. There were bowls of different sizes along with more cooking applicants with an oven installed in each table.

"Here!" May handed me an apron; she had another one in her other hand.

"Thanks." I nodded to her as I placed it on. As I was tying it, I looked at the other students in the class.

Judging from their tie colors, most of the students were first years. Makes sense; they do need the experience. In fact most of the class was juniors. The only seniors I saw were May, four girls whispering in the back, and a girl with bluenette hair. What was her name? Oh yeah, Dawn. And her partner was another third year in my homeroom, Lyra. She's a perky girl, to say the least. I do find it weird that we look similar and that our pigtails refuse to follow the laws of gravity.

"Welcome class!" the triplets said in unison. "We're Cilan, Cress, and Chili." they each said their own names.

"Today, we're starting our first class off with a little skill test." Cress announced.

"Each of you, make your own dish, for pokémon or humans, and we will taste test them to see where each of you are!" Chili explained.

"We have plenty of ingredients for you to choose from as well as an array of equipment at your stations." Cilan added.

"You have 30 minutes! Begin!" they exclaimed.

I waited at my table to bring out the equipment while everyone else rushed at the pantry. Well almost everyone. May, Dawn, and Lyra all had the same idea as me.

"What are you making?' May asked.

"Pokémon Protein shake. Healthy for pokémon while also being delicious." I answered as I plugged in a blender into one of the outlets in the table. "You?"

"My special May's Purple Surprise!" she exclaimed as she brought out a mini pokeblock machine.

We went to get our ingredients. I looked at the berry shelves along with Dawn and May.

"Have any of you guys seen the-? Ow! Nevermind! I found it!" Lyra cried as a container of Salveyo Weed fell on her head.

"What are you making with that?" I asked.

"Apricorn Shake! With a little kick to help heal pokémon!" she answered as she picked up the status healing berries.

I shrugged and went back to my station. The table was big enough for May and I to each have enough space to work independently. I chopped up some Pecha berries and slid them off the cutting board and into the blender. I diced the Oran berries next and followed up with two Lum berries. I poured some Combee honey to sweeten it up a bit and added some MooMoo Milk to thin it as well as some nutrition. I popped in some Sitrus berries and placed the lid on. I pressed the 'Pulse' button a few times.

While I was doing that. I looked at what the others were doing. May was finishing placing her chopped berries into the pokeblock machine while Dawn was stirring a pot of what looks like poffin batter. Lyra was busy shaking a bottle of yellow looking juice.

I turned back to my smoothie and took the lid off to get a taste. It needs a little bit of something else. I spotted a Liechi berry on May's side.

"Are you going to use that?" I asked her as I pointed towards the berry.

"Huh? Oh no. I'm not. I don't even why I got that!" she rubbed her head sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes and cut it up in small dices and threw it in the blender. I pressed pulse it a few more times and tasted it. Perfect. I brought out a glass and poured some of the smoothie in. I craved a rose out of a Pecha Berry and stuck it on the rim of the glass. I placed the straw in and stood back. Since craving the berry took most of the reminding time, when I placed the straw in, time was up.

I looked at what the others made. May had a dish of purple pokeblocks and was standing proudly. Dawn had a dish of sweet poffins with multi colored sprinkles on them. Lyra was next to her with the yellow juice in a tall glass with an Oran Berry slice on the rim.

I watched the Gym Leaders as they tasted everyone's dish. I watched as they gagged on some of the juniors' dishes while Cress actually fainted from just smelling one. I stifled a laugh as they had to spit the four girls' (the ones who sat in the back) dishes out of the window.

"What do we have here?" Cilan asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin after throwing up. He and his brothers were at Dawn's and Lyra's station right now.

"This is my own recipe for poffins!" Dawn explained. "I make them for my pokémon all the time."

"Let's see." Cress picked up a poffin. "What a wonderful aroma!"

"The presentation is just delightful!" Cilan exclaimed.

"Oh the flavor! How sweet! How rich! How perfect!" Chili exclaimed as the brothers took a bite out of the poffins.

"These are wonderful! Excellent!" Cilan complement. This gave Dawn a large grin on her face.

"What's this?" Cress asked as they moved onto Lyra.

"My Apricorn Shake! I added some natural remedy to any pokémon illness!" Lyra explained.

"Oh?" Cilan asked. He poured a little bit of the juice into three shot glasses. He passed two to his brothers while keeping one to himself.

"Interesting! The flavor combining is unique yet pleasant!" Cress exclaimed as they all drank the juice.

"Yes! I feel better from just a little bit of this!" Chili nodded.

"Hm, is that Salveyo Weed I hint?" Cilan asked. Lyra nodded vigorously. "How different. It gives that special flavor. Well done."

I saw May hold her breath as the three came over to our station. They stopped in front of me.

"What do you have?" Chili asked.

"A Pokémon Protein Shake." I answered. "Made from all natural ingredients."

"Let's take a taste." they poured some of the shake into three different shot glasses and took a sip.

"Oh! this is just delightful! I never tasted something so pleasing!" Cilan exclaimed.

"The sweetness is paired well with a hint of bitterness, sourness, dryness, and spiciness. It's just tingling my taste buds!" Chili added.

"And the density is just perfect. Not too thick and not too thin. Just right." Cress nodded.

I nodded at their comments as they moved on to May.

"What have you made?" Cilan asked.

"May's Purple Surprise!" May exclaimed. "It's a secret recipe I came up with!"

"Hmm." Chili said as he picked up a pokeblock. He sniffed it. "I smell nothing from this."

"Of course not! It's a pokeblock. There shouldn't be a smell." Cress reminded him.

Chili rolled his eyes and popped the pokeblock in his mouth at the same time his brothers did. The first thing I saw was their eyes snapping open. Then, it was just three bodies lying on the floor.

* * *

 **Whi-Two's POV**

"Hey Whi-Two."

I jumped in my seat. I nearly shocked myself when I did. We were trying to disarm a stink bomb in Gadgets and More at the Lab.

"Yeah?" I asked the boy next to me. He had light green hair and green eyes. "What do you need Curtis?" I asked as I feel my face heat up a bit.

"I was just wondering how far along you are on your bomb." Curtis answered.

"I'm almost done." I replied as I focused back on my assignment.

"Oh okay." he said as he went back to his own thing. I caught Lack-Two snickering at me from the table next to ours. I glared at him, but smirked when his partner, Yancy, bothered him.

I focused back on my bomb to see that there was five minutes left. I had plenty of time. Going undercover in Team Plasma helped me with my covert skills.

Beside me, Curtis jerked his arm and bumped into my arm. I was holding a crucial wire and when he bumped into me, the wire snapped.

"Crap." I sighed as the bomb beeped. I closed my eyes as it went off. I coughed as a horrible stench filled the room.

 _Ring!_

"Okay class! *cough* that's it for the fourth hour! *cough*" Our teacher, Clemont coughed as he cleaned his glasses.

"Whi-Two! I am so sorry!" Curtis told me as I waved the green cloud from my face.

"It's fine!" I insisted. "I have to go!" I said as I got up from my seat. I located Lack-Two standing near one of the windows which were already opened.

We released our Unfezant out at the same time and jumped out. We landed on them and flew to the town. Last night, we agreed to meet the others at the café which Red personally brought.

"There you two are." White said as we flew closer. Everyone else was there already. "Ew! What's that smell?"

"It's a long story." I sighed.

"Gadgets, Clemont, stink bomb." Lack-Two said simply.

"I thought you were better than that." Emerald said as he pinched his nose with his hand. Unfortunately, he had to get rid of his gadgets save his pokédex and pokégear.

"Well, she would've not blown it up if her boyfriend didn't distract her." my brother smirked.

"Curtis is not my boyfriend!" I yelled at him. "And it was not his fault that his arm jerked and bumped into mines."

"If you didn't like him, then why are you defending him?" he asked.

"I'm a people person! I want to make friends with them! Unlike you who flirt with every girl you see!" I retorted.

"Hey! That was only for that one mission!" he yelled back.

"Sure it was." I rolled my eyes.

"Um, let's all get something to eat!" Scarlett broke the tension. "Satoshi gave me the keys to the back."

"Who's Satoshi?" Lack-Two asked.

"Red." Blue answered. "He told us to call him that since that's the name he's going under."

"What does he have in this place?" Gold asked.

"Kanto food I guess." Scarlett shrugged. "He just brought this place this year. He hasn't gotten a chance to hire anyone to work here."

"Does he have food here?" Black asked.

"I think so." Scarlett nodded. "He always has a stash of instant ramen somewhere."

"Why?" Silver asked.

"If you stayed up a snowy mountain for months, then there isn't a real wide array of food you can choose from." Scarlett answered.

We walked to the back of the café where there was a side door to the building in an alley. Scarlett took out a ring of keys and placed one into the lock. She turned it and opened the door. She held it open as we walked through.

"Whoa. This place looks nice." X commented as we went to the front with the tables and counter. The color scheme was a nice combination. The walls were painted a cocoa brown with beige borders going around the entire place. The floor was shiny and polished with its tan tiles with a flame design outlined in that beige color in each tile. The ceiling was also tan and several lamps were hanging from it. The tables kept the brown color scheme with dark wood round tables with matching chairs. The cushions on the chair were a blazing red.

The red accent was present everywhere in the room. The lamps on the wall were surrounded with a filled oval of beige with a thin red rim around the oval. Tan diamonds also ran straight through the middle of the walls with a dark brown stripe going through each of the connecting diamond.

"This place looks like it is brand new." White commented as she walked behind the polished dark wood counter. There was a glass display in the middle of it.

"That's because he renovated the entire place." Scarlett said as she opened up the shades from the two windows in the front of the room along with the shades on the door. "He asked me what I thought looks best for a place like this and I told him. I never thought he would use it though."

"You have excellent taste though." X commented as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Thanks." Scarlett said. "Yellow, do you want to see if there's anything in the kitchen?"

"Sure. Crystal, do you want to come with me?" Yellow asked.

"I'm the only other person other than you, Scarlett and Silver who can cook, so yeah." Crystal nodded. The two walked back into the kitchen.

"So, while we wait for them, let's talk about my campaign!" Blue announced.

"But first." Lack-Two held up a can to my face.

"What- Ack!" I spat as he started to spray whatever was in there all over me.

"She's starting to stink up the place." he explained as I was being assaulted by air freshener!

"Get that can out of my face!" I growled as I knocked it out of his hand.

"We're just going to let them act like this?" Gold asked.

"As long as they don't kill each other, I'm fine with it." White shrugged.

"Back to me, people!" Blue whined.

"Fine. What else have you thought of?" White asked.

"My first thing to do if I'm president, kick all the boys off the council." Blue leaned back in her chair.

"What?! You can't do that!" Gold exclaimed.

"Why can't she?" Scarlett asked.

"We're on the council." Silver calmly answered.

"As what?" I asked.

"Treasurer." he answered.

"Secretary." Emerald added.

"Event planner." Gold nodded.

"Discipline." my grinning brother said.

"Representative." Black answered.

"And Secretary of State." X finished.

"What makes you Secretary of State?" Scarlett asked.

"I just go speak to the other years. That's all." he answered.

"And what about Gary's friends?" Blue asked.

"Ash: VP, Barry: representative, Brendan: School board representative and Lucas is the same thing." X listed off his fingers.

"We can probably replace all of them." Blue nodded.

"Blue, you really can't do that. The students already trust these guys, and in the girls' case, worship them." White muttered the last part. "So if there are any other people on the council, you can boot them off."

"Is there?" Blue asked the boys.

"Plenty. They just sit there and do nothing at all of the meetings." Emerald nodded. "Hell, most of them don't even _go_ to the meetings."

"In that case, than it seems fine to me." White nodded.

"I still need to print up posters and stuff." Blue thought about it. "Will you guys help me?"

"I'm happy to help." I nodded.

"Me too. I'm sure Yellow and Crys like to do the behind-the-scenes help too." Scarlett added.

"And you boys?" Blue asked them.

"I don't know." Black rubbed the back of his head.

"Gary is our friend." Lack-Two debated about it.

"If you don't help me, I'll make the rest of this school year your worst." Blue threatened them.

"Blue, I'm not sure if that's the best way to convince them." Scarlett sweatdropped.

"Guys, we found something." Yellow announced as she and Crystal came in holding trays of small sandwiches.

"Whoa. Where did you find these?" Gold's eyes widen.

"We found the ingredients in the pantry and made these." Crystal answered.

"So Satoshi had the pantry stocked the entire time?" Emerald raised a brow.

"When did he redecorate this place?' Silver asked.

"He said that he was finished with a big project yesterday." Scarlett shrugged. "Guess this place was it."

"And this food it just so fresh!" I exclaimed as I took a bite out of a sandwich.

We sat at some of the tables eating the sandwiches Yellow and Crystal made. Scarlett was leaning behind the counter while the rest of us were seated.

"Hello? Is this place open?" a bell above the front door rang as someone stepped in. She had two pigtails similar to Crystal's, but she was a brunette with brown eyes.

"Lyra? What are you doing here?" Crystal asked.

"Oh, it's my lunch hour and I've been looking for the last half hour for a place to eat." Lyra answered. "I smelled something great coming from here and found the door unlocked."

"Well, this is a café, but we're not really up and running yet." Scarlett shrugged.

"That's too bad. I really wanted something to eat." Lyra looked rejected.

"Hold up. Maybe we can whip something up." Yellow intervened. "What do you want to eat?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a burger. My mom used to make these amazing burgers which she calls her 'Cinnabar' burgers." Lyra answered.

"Move aside!" Gold jumped up in his seat. "I'll handle this!" he rushed in the kitchen.

We heard the clatter of pots and pans before we heard a sizzling sound. A bell dinged as Gold walked out with a burger on a plate.

"Your dish!" he handed the burger to Lyra.

She looked at it before sitting down at a table. She took a bite out of it and her eyes widened. "Wow! This tastes exactly the same!"

"Wow Gold, I never knew you could cook." Crystal was surprised.

"That's the only thing he can cook." Silver explained. "If he tries to cook anything else, he would burn the place down."

"That smells great." Ash walked in. He was followed by all of his friends.

"Did Satoshi even put a sign up?" I asked Scarlett. She shrugged.

"Guess we're officially in business." Scarlett commented as she tied an apron around her waist.

"Where did you get that?" X asked.

"There's a bunch under the counter." Scarlett answered as she held several up.

"We'll be in the kitchen ready to make anything." Yellow said as she, Crystal, Silver, and Gold walked in the kitchen.

"Everyone else, grab an apron. We're the waiting staff!" Blue ordered as she tied one on. Emerald decided to be the cashier so he sat behind the cash register. Blue directed Ash and his friends to different tables while the rest of us asked what they wanted.

"And what would you like?" I asked Max and his sister, May.

"What do you have?" Max asked.

"We just started five minutes ago so we don't really have a set menu yet." I explained.

Before Max could say anything, May spoke up. "We'll have two veggie wraps."

"Okay." I nodded as I jotted it down in the notepad that came with the apron. "Anything else?"

"Some Poké Cola." Max added.

"Okay. I'll be right back." I said as I rushed into the kitchen.

I placed the order on one of those clip things and went to get the sodas. I opened up a glass door fridge built in the wall next to the kitchen door. I opened up the door and took two cans of Poké Cola out. I went over to the glass rack and picked up two glasses, filled them with some ice, and placed a straw in each glass.

I placed the cans and glasses on a tray and headed out to the floor. I saw that more people were coming in. I hurried over to May and Max, careful to not bump into anyone, and gave them their drinks.

I went back in the kitchen and saw that their orders were ready. I picked up the two plates and headed out. I dodged Yellow as she rushed out to the counter and placed some small Pokémon treats in the display. I set the two plates down and went to help more people. This place is going to be busy.

* * *

"Oh, the hour's almost up." Blue noted as she looked at the clock on the wall above the counter.

"We have to get back to class." Black added.

"But we can't leave this place. It's too busy." White pointed out.

"You guys leave." Scarlett said. "I have a free hour next and Yellow does too."

"Are you sure you two can handle this crowd?" I asked.

"I also have a free hour. I can help them out." X offered.

"Okay. But when school's out, we have to discuss about the schedule for this place among other things." Blue said as she took off her apron. Black, White, Lack-Two, Emerald, and I did the same. I saw Crystal, Silver, and Gold exit from the kitchen as we exited through the back way. I saw Scarlett smile at us as we slipped out.

I called out Ken-chan and headed towards my next class. Please don't let Improvised Improv Acting to be a disaster.

* * *

 **Hmm. I hope Cress, Chili, and Cilan are okay. They should be, but it's May's Purple Surprise and I sure remembered what happened in the anime with that. And there's Curtis and Yancy! I think you all know what's going to happen now!**

 **Anyways, the day is only halfway done! One more chapter and the first day is wrapped up!**

 **If any of you find a nice connection with Quartz, Ebony, and Ivory's names, then a shout out to you next chapter!**

 **Oh, and has anyone seen the 'official' names for Lack and Whi-Two? Blake and Whitley? I find that they don't really go with the rest of the Adventures names, so for all of my stories, I'm sticking with Lack-Two and Whi-Two. They might be a bit long to write out, but I find that it fits the trend better.**

 **I just looked over at the chapters I've written so far for all of my stories and I have enough to last two years if I didn't write anything over those two years. So I might update more this year, but I don't know yet. AP is kicking my butt here and my personal life is still getting busy. My sister wants me to miss the beginning of my next school year so I can hang out with her halfway around the world. I mean, that sounds great, but I have my future to think about.**

 **Man, I really do have a problem spilling my life story to you guys. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed it and if so, leave a review so you can tell me what you think!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	24. First Day: Part Three

**Hello there!**

 **Yeah, I meant to update yesterday, but I was super busy.**

 **But here is the final part of day one. So I hope all of you like it!**

 **And the reviews!**

 **.18: For the terrible trio or terrible what word for a group of six people, I just made up their looks. I wanted to make them as different as possible from the six girls. I do have a basic timeline in mind. I do make references to different holidays and events. As for everything that happened prior, I'm going off of what happened in the anime as just what it is (such as Ash staying ten all throughout the series). The Rocket Trio? They could make an appearance. I don't know yet. Anything can happen. As for Ash's outfit, he starts wearing it after his journey. Meaning after all of his traveling and badge collecting.**

 **Redstar: Most of the pokéballs work like in the anime, but there are a few circumstances where the pokéballs will work like in the manga. The pokédexes won't make a really big appearance in here. Except for one. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you play the games. *cough* Sun and Moon *cough* But that last idea would be funny. Oak can hold a grudge.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I suck at making ships come together, but I'm trying my best here! But I'm glad you feel that way! The cafe may or may not be important. Who knows?**

 **Not much to say. Except for the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Except for my OCs of course. Yeah. That's it.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

 **Scarlett's POV**

"I finally found a close and open sign!" Yellow exclaimed as she held up a sign when she came out from the kitchen.

"Good. Hang it from the hook on the door. Flip it to 'Closed'." I told her.

"Do either of you find it weird that no one is in here right now while it was really busy five minutes ago?" X asked as he untied his apron.

"There's five minutes till the next class. They're probably just finishing some other stuff up." Yellow suggested as she hung the sign up.

"How much did we make today?" I asked X.

"Let's see." he looked in the cash register. After some quick mouthing of numbers, he looked at us again. "About 36000 PKD."

"Wow. We made that much in just this short amount of time?" I asked.

"Yep. We have enough to have an extra 3000 PKD for each of us." X nodded. "Yellow, how were you able to keep up with all of the orders?"

"Oh, it wasn't a problem. I just had my pokémon help out a bit." Yellow explained.

"When classes are over, we have to talk to Satoshi about this place. Even though we still have a lot of inventory in the pantry, we will run out soon. We also need a set menu and schedule so this place can run." I said as Yellow and I placed the aprons back where we found them.

"But Gold can only cook his burgers. We can't have him come in everyday." Yellow pointed out.

"Then we'll just have a one day, one hour special every week for his burgers." I said as I picked up my bag from under the counter.

"Will these be okay for the rest of today?" X asked Yellow about the treats in the glass display.

"The display is climate controlled. They will be fine." Yellow told him.

"Let's head out of here." I nodded towards the door while I was closing the shades. We're not going to be in here during classes anymore.

"What's your next class?" Yellow asked.

"Mega Evolution." X and I said in unison.

"It's the only class for Mega Evolution." I explained.

"So Blue, Silver, and Emerald will in there too. So will Ash, Gary, Brendan, Lucas, May, and Dawn." X added.

"They have pokémon that can Mega Evolve?" I asked him as I locked the door behind us.

"Yeah." he nodded. "I never seen them Mega Evolved, but I saw their Mega Stones on them." he said as we walked back on campus.

"Well, I'm off to Defensive Battling. I'll see you guys after school." Yellow waved to us as she rushed off towards the Battle Tower. Since it was a fairly easy class, she went to the front entrance instead of flying over there.

 _Ring!_

"Though it's close, I'm not walking up all those stairs." I said as I called out Char and climbed on him.

"You sound lazy." X commented as he brought out Salamè and got on him.

"Oh, so you want to climb three sets of stairs than?" I raised a brow at him. When he said nothing, I smirked. "Thought so. Let's go."

Both Charizard took off and started to fly towards the Bond Place. I heard a yell from behind us and looked back to see Ash doing a barrel roll with his Charizard. I noticed a glistening collar around his Charizard. I spotted another Trainer who was flying on his Charizard. He had black hair that stood up a bit and his revealed wrist showed a Mega Bracelet, similar to the ones I made for the boys, on it. His Charizard also had a Mega Collar on it.

"Too many people have Mega Evolution and Charizard." I said to X as we landed on the roof.

"Or it's just a coincident." he replied as we returned our pokémon.

"Maybe." I shrugged as we walked down the roof stairs.

X currently had no pokémon out since they're all too big. He could've had Li'l Kanga out, but he doesn't want to separate him from his mother. Pika, on the other hand, was trying her best to annoy X. Not the smartest idea in my book.

"Pi. Pi. Pi. Pi. Pi." Pika was on my shoulder closest to X and was poking his cheek with her tail.

"Pika, knock it off before he blows a fuse." I scolded her.

She looked at me before shrugging. "Pi. Pi. Pi." she went back to poking X's cheek.

"Can't you control your pokémon?" X glared at me.

"I try to, but like Rio, they're unpredictable. They all obey me in battle, but outside, Pika and Rio like to do what they want even though they do listen to me most of the time." I explained.

We walked into the classroom and saw that it was one giant room.

This makes sense since Mega Evolution was reserved for the fourth floor, but I never expected the room to be this big. There were five battlefields in the room with two levels of stands surrounding them.

I looked over and saw Ash, Gary, Lucas, Brendan, May, and Dawn on one of the battlefields.

"Hey guys!" I felt someone wrap their arm around my shoulder. I looked back and saw that it was Blue. Silver and Emerald were walking behind her.

"Blue! Scarlett! Over here!" May and Dawn waved us over. We parted with the boys and walked over the girls.

"So what pokémon do you have that can Mega Evolve?" Blue asked them.

"My Blaziken can while Dawn has her Lopunny." May explained as they showed us their Mega Bracelet. They were just a simple one inch and a half wide silver band that wrapped around their wrists with a Key Stone in the middle. I looked over and each of the boys had one too.

"The others?" I asked as I gestured to the boys.

"Ash has his Charizard, Heracross, Sceptile, Glalie and Pidgeot, but not all on him right now. Gary has his Blastoise, Scizor, Alakazam, Houndoom, and Pinsir. Again, not all on him at the moment. Lucas has a Tyranitar while Brendan has a Swampert and Aggron." Dawn explained. "You guys?"

"I have a Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise, Absol, and Lucario that all can while Blue only has her Blastoise." I told them.

"And X has his Charizard, Gengar, Kangaskhan, and Magentric. Silver only has his Gyarados and Emerald has his Sceptile." Blue finished. "And we all have them on us right now."

"Wow. You guys just love Mega Evolved pokémon, don't you?" May asked.

"We're interested in them." I replied.

"Not again." a very annoying voice said from behind us. Blue and I turned around to see Violet and Jade standing there. Please don't tell me they have pokémon that can Mega Evolve too. I nearly bit my tongue off when I saw the Mega Choker that each of them had around their necks. In other words, a Key Stone hanging from a thin piece of metal around their necks decorated with shiny jewels. I swear, if they were Meowth, they would play with them nonstop.

I ignored them and we walked to where the boys were. We were cut off though when Violet and Jade immediately rushed up to Gary and X and grabbed onto their arms. I saw that Blue was about to blow so I directed her away from killing the two girls.

I looked at the other students in the class and saw that the only other kid in here was that boy with black hair and the Charizard.

"I see that everyone is here." a man with silver blue hair floated down on a shiny Metagross Steven Stone was our teacher for this class. "Let's get started than. Everyone, send out one pokémon that can Mega Evolve."

I had a tough time choosing who, but seeing how Rio's pokéball was shaking, I sent her out. I smiled when she immediately glared at Jade who sent out a Beedrill. Blue sent out her Blasty while May and Dawn sent out their Blaziken and Lopunny respectively. Violet sent out her Sableye while X sent out his Gengar to try and scare Jade off. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Gary sent out his Blastoise while Ash sent out his Charizard. Lucas had his Tyranitar out with Brendan having his Swampert out. Silver and Emerald let out their Gyarados and Sceptile respectively. The other kid in class sent out his Charizard.

"Wonderful. We have a nice assortment of pokémon here." Steven said. "First off, call me Mr Steven and let your pokémon Mega Evolve. I want to see what kind of bond we have with them."

I pulled my Mega Locket from under my sweater vest and clasped a hand over it. "May our hearts connect as one." I whispered as light filled the room. Unlike before, blue light from Rio's Mega Stone collided with green light coming from my Key Stone. A shield of blue energy covered Rio as she Mega Evolved. When the shield broke, a Mega Evolution symbol appeared in front of Rio's Mega Evolved form before pulsing and fading away.

I felt an immediate wave of aura energy and Rio howled. Our aura stone pendants glowed as the aura in us increased. I felt a surge of power within and me and held it in.

 _That was... different._ Rio said.

 _I know. I think our hearts are finally one._ I smiled at her.

 _I feel it too. Now, we are able to be one with each other._ Rio smiled back.

"Interesting. We have the two different Mega Evolutions for Charizard." Steven said as he placed his stick pin back on his jacket after Mega Evolving his Metagross. I looked over and see that the boy-who-I-don't-know and his Charizard Mega Evolved in its X state while Ash had his in its Y state. Just like mines. "Alain, Ash, would you mind showing us a test of each of your Charizard?" Steven asked.

Alain nodded while Ash answered 'yes'. "The rest of you," Steven turned towards us. "I would like to see how well you are with your pokémon. Find someone and battle with them. Tag battles are permitted."

Instantly, Violet and Jade were off Gary and X and stomped towards Blue and I.

"Good luck." May and Dawn said as they went over to battle Brendan and Lucas. I looked over and saw Silver and Emerald teamed up against Gary and X. Ash and Alain were against each other.

"You bitches against us in a Mega Battle!" Violet growled.

"Fine with us. I just hope you're ready to lose." I glared at them.

"Shut up! You're just a little copy cat with your fancy shiny Lucario! Well, guess what? It's not even that cute!" Jade retorted.

I had to hold Rio back using my aura from attacking Jade.

"If you feel that way, then let's battle than. We'll see who's better." Blue glared at them both.

We walked over to one of the battlefields and Violet and Jade went to one side while Blue and I went to the other. Rio and Blasty were standing in front of us on the battlefield while Violet's Sableye and Jade's Beedrill were in front of them.

"Battles begin!" Steven announced.

"Blue, I'm going to try something with my Rio, but I need you to follow my lead." I whispered to her.

"Okay." she said uncertainly. Let's just hope she can guess what my moves will be.

"Sableye! Shadow Ball!"

"Beedrill! Poison Sting!"

"Blasty, withdraw in your shell!" Blue shouted.

 _Rio, jump on top of Blasty and use Aura Sphere to counter their attacks._ I told Rio through aura.

Rio nodded and hopped on Blasty as soon as he withdrew his head, arms, and legs into his shell. She charged up a single Aura Sphere in her one of her paws and shot them rapid fire towards the incoming attacks. When they hit, it caused an explosion.

 _Extremespeed, than Dragon Pulse Beedrill._

"Blasty! Use Hydro Pump and cover Rio!" Blue shouted. As soon as Rio disappeared in a blur, Blasty came back out and set his cannons. A large stream of water shot from his shell while two smaller ones shot out from his arm cannons.

"Sableye! Shadow Sneak and then Shadow Claw!" Violet yelled out.

"Beedrill! Agility and then Poison Jab on that Lucario!" Jade ordered.

A dark shadow slithered in front of Blasty and Sableye popped out of it. Its claw was covered in dark shadows as it raked it on Blasty's shell. However, it did no damage.

"Idiot! Blasty's shell is untouchable!" Blue provoked them.

Beedrill suddenly gained a boost of speed and aimed its purple stinger towards Rio. Wherever she was. In a blur of gold and blue, Rio appeared behind Beedrill and blasted it with a Dragon Pulse.

 _Great job._ I nodded to her as she landed back on my side as Blasty successfully blasted Sableye back on the other side of the battlefield.

"You want to finish this?" Blue asked me. I nodded.

 _Rio, Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse!_

"Blasty, Hydro Cannon!"

Rio placed both of her paws out in front of her. In one, a dark purple orb appeared. In the other, a royal blue orb appeared.

Blasty set his cannon on his back and a light blue glowing orb appeared in it.

Rings of dark aura energy and a stream of dragon aura were fired from Rio's paws as it combined with the glowing blue stream of water coming out of Blasty's cannon. The attacks swirled together into a single beam and hit both Sableye and Beedrill head on. An explosion occurred and when it cleared, Sableye and Beedrill were back to their original forms, fainted.

"Sableye and Beedrill are unable to battle! That means Blasty and Rio are the victors! Blue and Scarlett have won this match!" Steven announced.

"Yeah! That was great!" Blue cheered as Blasty and Rio went back to their regular states.

"Great job Rio. That worked out better than our training." I said as I patted Rio's head.

 _At least it didn't involve your bangs over your eyes this time._ Rio said, indicating to my battle with my dad. I try to forget that moment, but I can't.

"Argh! How?! How were you stupid bitches able to beat us?!" Violet seemed enraged as she and Jade returned their pokémon.

"And without saying a damn word too!" Jade directed her anger towards me.

"A true bond between pokémon and trainer does not need words. Blue and Scarlett showed their bonds by knowing what their pokémon were going to do and spoke to their hearts." Steven came towards us. "A pokémon like Rio can sense the aura in their trainers and their aura can be synced together, allowing for the trainer and pokémon to communicate without speaking out loud to each other."

 _If only he knows the truth!_ Rio snickered. I rolled my eyes at her as we walked off the battlefield. I saw that Dawn and May already finished their battle.

"Who won?" Blue asked them.

"Brendan and Lucas did. They are really strong." Dawn admitted.

"Are you sure you didn't let them win?" I asked them.

"What?! Why would we?" May was shocked.

"Oh I don't know. It's just that in our second class, you girls seemed strong just from your appeals, but I guess I was wrong because you let them win." I shrugged.

"Are you implying that we like them?" Dawn asked.

"I see that I'm rubbing off on you a little bit." Blue smirked at me.

"What can I say? There are good influences, but there are also bad influences." I shrugged again.

"You guys are not going to set us up with them, are you?" May asked.

"Maybe." we smirked.

We spent the rest of the class watching the rest of the battles. Silver and Emerald almost won their battle against X and Gary, but X told Lasma to use Shadow Sneak and that distracted both of them enough to let Gary finish them off.

In Ash's and Alain's battle, they were still going at it. Both Charizard fought in the air until Ash's Charizard used Seismic Toss and fainted Alain's Charizard.

"I hope today has shed some light on the power Mega Evolution shows." Steven said as we healed our pokémon. "Next class, we will discuss the matters on Mega Evolution."

 _Ring!_

"You are dismissed." Steven said as the ceiling opened up. Half of the roof is the actual roof. The other half opens up so the Mega Evolution room would be able to battle in the skies.

I called out Char and boarded him. I sighed to myself. The one class I am not looking forward to.

"Rise to a Master. Battle Tower." I told Char. He gave me a sympathetic look. He turned forward and flew off.

As we were flying in the air, I thought to myself about how his class will go. I know that it's going to involve a lot of battling, but what kind? Will he actually speak? I don't want it to end up like last year.

I noticed that half of the Battle Tower roof was open. I was kind of expecting this. This is the only Master class.

I had Char land through the open area. We ended up in a large stadium with one battle field in the middle. It looked like a real stadium too. The Rise to a Master class took up the entire fourth floor since it's the hardest battling class there is.

I looked up and saw that Ash, X, Black, and Gold coming through the open roof.

"You know that you're the only girl in this class, right?" I heard Satoshi talk to me from behind.

"Yes, I'm aware." I turned around to talk to him.  
"Remember to not let your cover blow." he reminded me.

"And you too." I told him. "A Champion who went missing for seven years will tend to draw attention if they find out he's working at a school." I said low enough so one else will be able to hear me.

Once everyone landed, I went up to the stands.

"Are you okay?" X asked as he caught up to me.

"I'm fine." I said as I sat down. X did the same. Black and Gold sat next to him while Ash went and sat next to me.

"Welcome to Rise to a Master." Satoshi announced as he stood in the middle of the battlefield. "Here, you will learn how to truly be a Pokémon Master."

I could see Ash vibrating in his seat. He's really pumped up for this.

"To see where each of you is, I would like to have a one-on-one battle with each of you." Satoshi said as his Pikachu popped out from his pokéball and onto his shoulder. "Which one of you would like to go first?"

I sighed as Gold raised his hand before Black does. I heard Black complain as Gold went down to the battlefield.

I leaned back in my seat as Exbo immediately got blasted into a wall by a single Thunderbolt from Pikachu. Gold called back his pokémon and Black went down to the field. But like Exbo, Bo got hurled into a wall, but by an Iron Tail.

X stood up next to me and calmly went down to the battlefield. Now, his battle was a bit more interesting to watch. He lasted a full minute before his Marisso got knocked out. They should've expected this. Red is pretty hard to beat. If they thought he was intense when he was battling me, they should see him when he is really serious.

Ash hopped up next to me and went down to face Satoshi. Pikachu looked fine after three battles. Ash called out his Greninja. I was surprised at that. He has a type disadvantage here. I hope he knows that. Suddenly, a vortex of water surrounded Greninja and his looks changed. His head got black and red details that was not like a normal Greninja.

"What is that?" I whispered as I stared in awe.

"I don't know. I never seen his Greninja like this before." X answered.

I watched as Greninja was able to actually land some hits on Pikachu. He was weaken by a few Water Shurikens before Pikachu knocked Greninja out by a single Thunderbolt. I saw Ash collapse when his Greninja fainted. He was able to stand up soon after though.

I sighed as I stood up. Satoshi hasn't gave a verbal command to his Pikachu throughout the battles. I know that he means real business. I just hope that he doesn't make it easy on me again.

I walked down to the battlefield and stood on my side. I saw that Satoshi's eyes were shaded. He's not going to be easy on me. I know this instantly. My bangs covered my eyes as Pika hopped in front of me. Her cheeks were crackling with electricity as she stared down her own father.

Let the battle begin.

Suddenly, both Pikachu dashed towards each other in a Quick Attack. Pikachu was trying to hit Pika, but Pika kept on dodging each attack with her own Quick Attack. While dodging, Pika's tail flashed a metallic white before swinging it back around and hitting Pikachu with it. Pika somersaulted back onto my side as Pikachu landed near Satoshi. A shake of his head later, he launched a Thunderbolt at Pika.

Sensing it come her way, Pika's tail flashed the metallic white again and stuck it in the ground. Suddenly, Pikachu rushed towards Pika in a Quick Attack. Since her tail was still in the ground, Pika jumped up and balanced on her tail. Pikachu ended up running into the Iron Tail. Pika used her tail as a springboard and jumped in the air. She spun and used Iron Drill on Pikachu. Since he was still dazed, he was hit spot on.

In retaliation, Pikachu shook off the attack and hit Pika with his own Iron Tail as she was landing. When she was still down, tackled into her several times with Quick Attack.

Pika ended up on my side. She was severely hurt, but she was still able to get up. Pikachu dashed back to Satoshi's side, looking as beat up as Pika is.

I gave a slight nod to Pika. She nodded back and started to glow a bright yellow. Pikachu was glowing yellow as well. Suddenly, both Pikachu were dashing at each other with their Volt Tackle. When they collided, smoke appeared. When it dispersed, Pika was the one fainted. Pikachu was still standing up.

I let out a breath as I saw that it was a lost for me. I put on a weak smile and walked towards Pika. I kneeled down and scooped her up in my arms.

"Thank you." I whispered to her and I hugged her close to my face.

"Pika." she cried weakly as she started to lick my face.

"Excellent." Satoshi said as Pikachu climbed on his shoulder. I stood up and looked at him in the eyes. "I haven't had a battle like that in a long while."

I narrowed my eyes. Liar. He forced me in a battle last year. Though it was as intense, he wasn't serious about it.

"I hope this gives each and every one of you a look at what a true master needs." Satoshi said as the bell rung. "You may leave."

I instantly called Char out and climbed on him with Pika in my arms. He took off into the skies. Only when we were high in the skies, away from everyone else, did I let my true feelings show.

I felt my eyes fill with tears so I told Char to land somewhere secluded. He ended up landing in the middle of the forest with a lake in front of us. I hopped off and called the rest of my pokémon out.

 _Are you okay?_ Rio asked as she sensed how distraught I was.

I ended up collapsing to the ground when the first tears fell. The battle really tested my feelings. It took more of a toll on me than last year. It wasn't just because I was up against my dad. No, it wasn't. It was all of the memories. The memories of being alone. Ones of climbing Mt Silver just to find out that he wasn't up there. He was never up there. He was never there. He was never here.

I sobbed as the few good memories came. Where did all of that go? When did it end? I know when it ended. It was when I was ten. When I went on my journey. At first, I thought he left me alone because he knew that I was strong enough to go on without him. But when I met him again, he instantly thought that I needed protection. He left me for years and now he wants to _protect_ me? Where was that protection when I was facing the harsh weather on Mt Silver? Where was it when I nearly _died_ up there? The only protection he gave me while he was gone was my pokémon. _They_ took care of me. _They_ saved me. _They_ were the family I never had. It's like a balance. I take care and save them and they do it for me. But where was that balance when it was between father and daughter?

A few weeks after I met him again, I already had enough of his bipolar attitude. He wants to protect me, yet he was never there when I really needed it. I lashed out at him. I didn't regret it at the time. Then he forced me in a battle when I was trying to have some _fun_. That fun turned into a emotional rollercoaster for me. I know that it was also hard for my pokémon to go up against their own fathers. I _felt_ them. I sensed that it also hard on them as well as how hard it was for me. When he smiled at me after that battle, I found it as a way for him to _patronize_ me. I may be his daughter, but that gives him no excuse for him to treat me as a little girl who doesn't know anything about the world!

Over the next year, he backed off a bit, but he was still there hovering over me as if he's expecting me to mess up and lock me in my room for the rest of my life. And _now_ , he thought that it was finally time that I should be released into the world? He thought that it was _finally_ time for me to face the real power? Guess what, I _have_ faced the world. I _have_ faced real power. I have done it when I was ten and I didn't need it from my father when I'm seventeen. _Now_ he chooses to treat me as an equal to him. _Now_ he chooses to battle me like it real.

At moments like this. I wish that I still have my mother. I wish that I could remember her. I wish that she was still alive. I wish that she was right next to me, comforting me through these tough years. Mother, where are you? Are you looking after me? If you are, then please guide me. Even though I have never met you. I still love you.

I heard something land near me. I sense my pokémon get out of the way as whoever came close to me. I sensed a strong aura. One that was worried, one that was concerned. Instantly, I knew that it was X. He was the only one in that room who really cared for me.

"Shh. It's okay." he wrapped his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and just cried. Cried like I was a little girl who scraped her knee. Cried like I just got my first crush, but got rejected. Cried like I found out something I cared for the most just died. I cried like I felt myself break inside.

* * *

 **X's POV**

I have never seen her cry like this before. She has never showed herself this weak in front of anybody. It's like she finally broke down, like the pressure finally got to her. When her sobs stopped, I lifted her face away from my shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy and were still moist.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Can you stop asking that? Do I look okay to you?" she glared at me.

I laughed at her. "No you don't, but I just wanted to see your face."

"Jerk." she glared at me again.

"I do my best." I said as I wiped the rest of her tears away.

"I wasn't expecting you to see me this way." she looked down.

"It's okay. A girl always needs to show some weakness." I told her.

"Oh, so you're saying that a girl has to be the damsel in distress and the boy has to be the knight in shiny armor?" she crossed her arms as she glared at me.

"I wasn't going to say that, but since you did, yes." I nodded.

"Why do I even try?" she sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Come on. Stand up." I pulled her to her feet. I pulled up so fast, she fell forward.

"Give me a warning next time." she glared at me as she got on her own feet.

"And what's the fun would that be?" I shrugged. I walked over to Salamè, who was waiting patiently, as Scarlett called back her pokémon save for Pika and Char.

"Let's head back to the others." she said as she climbed on Char. I nodded as I climbed on my own Charizard. We both took off and headed towards our houses. It took us awhile since Scarlett flew all the way to the deepest part of the forest surrounding the school and town.

We landed in front of the backyard and returned our pokémon before opening the gate to the backyard.

"Where have you guys been?" Blue asked as we walked in. Everyone was scattered around on the patio set they moved nearer to the pool.

"I just needed to calm down a bit after my last class." Scarlett answered.

Blue opened her mouth to say something, but Gold shook his head. She immediately closed it.

"So what have you guys been doing?" I asked as I sat down on a swinging bench set. Scarlett sat down next to me since there was nowhere else to sit.

"We've been just talking about Blue's campaign and about the café." White answered.

"The first thing we should focus about is the café since we can make additional money that way." Yellow spoke up. "Today alone we made 36000 PKD which means an extra 3000 PKD for each of us."

"Alright so when do we guys want to run it?" Blue asked.

"What about every weekday except for Monday?" Whi-Two suggested.

"We have to work on a Friday? That doesn't sound good." Black complained.

"But we can earn more money on Friday since more students would come. Especially after school." Silver pointed out.

"So it's settled then?" Scarlett asked. Everyone nodded. "Good. Now we need operation hours."

"Lunches are during the fourth, fifth, and sixth hours." Crystal stated. "I know that I have a free hour during the fourth hour so I can probably work the kitchen."

"Blue and I have our free hour during second class so we can only work during fifth hour." White pointed out.

"Lack-Two and I too." Whi-Two added.

"So for fourth hour, we need about three people." Emerald spoke up.

"Sixth hour we already got covered. Scarlett, Yellow, and I could do it." I spoke up.

"But Yellow can get tired very easily if she's working everyday. I suggest that we have Gold come in the kitchen every Wednesday and have his special Cinnabar burgers as a menu special. I can come into the kitchen to help cook the other food. When he's not cooking, Gold can be part of the waiting staff." Scarlett suggested.

"Okay, let me get the schedule straight, fourth hour is going to be Crystal, Emerald, and I while fifth hour is going to be Blue, White, Whi-Two, Lack-Two, and Silver, and sixth hour is going to be Scarlett, X, Yellow, and Gold." Black said.

"Are you guys okay with that?" Blue asked. Everyone nodded. "Okay and now we need hours for after school."

"Since Friday is going to be the biggest day, we need everyone working." I pointed out.

"Then why not split the days off by region? Blue, Yellow, X and Scarlett on Tuesday, Gold, Silver, Emerald and I on Wednesday, White, Black, Whi-Two, and Lack-Two on Thursday? It should be enough people to work the after school crowd." Crystal suggested.

"But we can't cook." Black and Lack-Two pointed out.

"Don't worry, since I had to take care of my younger siblings, I can." White assured them.

"Everyone good on that?" Blue asked again. Once again, everyone nodded. "Next, the menu."

"We can't my Cinnabar burgers everyday so when I come in on Wednesday, that's the only day they are available." Gold stated.

"We already implied that, but okay." Scarlett sweatdropped. "Since most of these girls are on some kind of diet, we should have things like berry salads, veggie wraps, smoothies, and sandwiches."

"But also some kind of meat in there for people who actually eat." I said.

"I'm a vegetarian so I don't eat meat." Scarlett crossed her arms.

"I'm with her too." Blue and Yellow nodded.

"Okay so I'll write the menu later and I'll see if you guys like it or not." Crystal offered.

 _Ring!_

I looked down at where I keep my pokégear and saw that everyone else was doing the same. I saw that Red was calling.

"He's doing a conference call?" Emerald asked.

"Let's see what he wants." Silver said as he answered the call. Everyone did as well.

"How's everyone doing?" Red asked.

"Just fine." Scarlett answered.

"Sorry if-"

"Stop right there. I don't want to talk about it." Scarlett cut him off.

"Anyways, Red, we have a question to ask you." Blue changed the subject. "We want to run that café you brought."

"You want to what?" Red asked.

"Run it. As in work in the place." I said.

"We think that it would be a great chance to do after school and during our free hours." Black added.

"But we wanted to talk to you before we officially announce it." Crystal said.

"I'm fine with it." Red said.

"Thanks for approving it, but we will have some trouble with paying for the ingredients and bills of the place." White pointed out.

"Since you're already buying your own food, I'll pay for weekly deliveries of food for the café and pay the bills for it. Any money you make from it is yours." Red explained.

"Thanks Red." Gold said.

"No problem. Sorry, but I have to go." Red said.

"Bye." everyone said before hanging up.

"Girls, do you want to finish up the movies now?" Blue asked.

"What movies?" Emerald asked.

"We're watching the Maximum Ride series." Yellow explained.

"Cool. Is it okay if we watch with you?" Black asked.

"Sure." White shrugged.

"Let's go." I said as I stood up.

This school year is going to be interesting.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Red sighed as he hung up his pokégear. Currently, he was standing outside of Professor Oak's office. He ran his hand through his hair before facing the door.

He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

"Come in." the professor said from inside. Red placed his hand on the knob and turned it. He opened the door and found the world's leading expert in Pokémon sitting behind his desk, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Ah. Satoshi. Please sit down." Professor Oak placed down his pen and gestured to a chair in front of him. Red stepped in and quietly closed the door. He sat down in the chair as asked.

"Sir, if this is about this morning, than I am truly-" Red said, but Professor Oak raised a hand to quiet him.

"I'm not worried about that, my boy." Professor Oak said as he stood up. "Do you want to know why I hired you?"

"Because you need a former champion to teach a class?" Red guessed.

"No. We have plenty of applicants for that position." Professor Oak said as he faced the window behind his desk. "Don't think that you fooled me for a second, Red."

At the sound of his name, Red stiffened. "How do you know?"

"You've been living in Pallet Town for all your life." Professor Oak answered. "You met and fell in love with Delia faster than I've seen any couple. Than the both of you got married. I was there to witness it. But then came your children. Because of that one incident, you whisked away your daughter and left your son and wife behind. It's no wonder she's so vexed with you."

"Professor, you understand that it was for the best. Ashley doesn't even remember anything." Red countered.

"Yes, I know, but was it best for Ashley?" Professor Oak turned to him. "She has been raised without a mother for her entire life and she has been left alone for more than six years of her life."

"How do you know that?" Red asked.

"The other professors and champions have been in contact with her." Professor Oak faced towards the window again. "They have enlightened me about her."

"I thought I was doing what was best." Red said as he looked at his feet.

"You always say that, but why not think about what's truly best for your children." Professor Oak turned towards him. "And start with telling them about each other."

"Sir, you know I can't." Red said.

"Yes you can. They are your children and they should deserve to know about each other. You tell them that you are both of their fathers and tell Ashley that she has a mother. After all, they are in several classes together."

"I don't know what you mean, Ashley isn't even enrolled here." Red shook his head.

"Don't even lie to me. You lied _to_ your children enough and I don't need your lies _about_ your children. Even though it has been seventeen years since I first saw that little girl, I know what she looks like even now." Professor Oak glared at Red. "Scarlett or Ashley, they are the same. They deserve the same rights and the same family they never knew."

"Yes sir." Red said, defeated.

"I expect you to tell them by the end of the school year." Professor Oak said as he turned to his window. "It's best if you tell them. If anyone else who found out told them, it's going to be bad for you. It's going to be worst if they found out themselves. You may leave."

Red stood up and left the office. Professor Oak sighed as he looked out of the window.

"Ash, Ashley. May Arceus treat your fates well. May you both meet each other for who you really are." he muttered.

* * *

 **I'm sure all of you have questions. Just leave them in the review. Hope you all like!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	25. Grand Opening

**Sorry I'm a little late this week! thought, i updated last week so that must count for something, right?**

 **Anyways, I'm really busy and I have to make this short. As you can see, I'm trying my best to update as much as I can, but I haven't had time to write lately.**

 **I'm getting my wisdom teeth out next week, so fun. Sarcasm included. So I probably won't have a surprise update then.**

 **And the reviews!**

 **.18: Maybe we will. You never know. Umm, he's already going through a lot so that might be pushing it a bit too far. For now. And of course you can! Anyone is welcomed to PM me!**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Some people just don't know what they're doing when their mad. And Oak? Of course. I like twists. I have seen the movie. Loved the music in there and Ash too.**

 **Redstar: I wrote this a long time ago so the writing may seem elementary. I just wrote some random stuff down, trying to get to my word quota while Calem is going to have a slow turn around. Red? There's a lot of things wrong with him.**

 **Long story short, enjoy the chap!**

 **Discalimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything I refer to.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five

 **Blue's POV**

"How's that logo coming?" I asked White as I came out of the kitchen.

"Almost done!" she exclaimed as she peeled off the paper from the glass door. She stood back as she stared proudly at her work. The words, _Café d'Aventure,_ were stylized in black bold cursive-like font with a fully colored pokéball next to it. We had Scarlett's help with the Kalosian. I insisted on it since it would sound fancier. From our point of view, it looked backwards, but if you were standing outside the café, than it would look like what I described it. We had the hours of operations under it in white frosted bold letters and numbers.

"What about you guys?" I turned to Whi-Two and Lack-Two who were hanging up the pictures on the wall.

"Just a few more pictures." Lack-Two responded he handed a frame to his sister. The pictures we were hanging up were of us in our school uniforms, our normal attire, and our different sets of clothes. We took them yesterday, when the sun was just right. We separated into different groups so we were always all in the pictures. We split according to different categories. A big picture of all of us and our pokémon was hanging on the wall behind the counter.

"I'm going to see how's the boys are doing with the sign out front." I said as I pushed open the glass door.

"Hey! Watch it!" Emerald complained as he stood on a ladder near the door.

"Sorry, Em!" I called out to him. "Is the bell done yet?"

"Done." he said as he screwed in one last screw into the bell hanging over the door. "The open sign is done too. It's on a timer so we don't have to turn it on and off every time."

"Perfect!" I exclaimed as I slid carefully through the door. I walked out and turned towards the front of the café. The door and windows looked perfect with the new details added. When you looked inside, the place was busy with Whi-Two and Lack-Two hanging up those pictures. Yellow and Crystal were busy getting the kitchen ready. We're getting a food delivery tomorrow so we need to prep the kitchen. Satoshi said that we'll have a food drop every Sunday. I sent Scarlett off to complete a survey on what the student body would like from this place.

I looked up and saw X, Black, and Gold putting up the café sign and canopy. The sign logo looked like the one on the door, but bigger and the letters were in gold with a white metallic outline. The canopy that hung over the door and windows was a striped brown, tan, and red. We planted several flowers, bushes, and little shrubs in small planters outside so it would look nicer! And we also held some plants inside too.

"Blue, is this menu alright?" Crystal asked me as she came out the café. She showed me a sheet in her hand.

I looked it over and it was perfect. "It's fine. Go with White to the Lounge. Copy and laminate about fifty of these in the school newspaper room. While you're in there, don't forget to tell the editor to put in an advertisement for this place." I told her.

"Okay." she nodded before she grabbed White and flew off.

"I got the sign, Nee-san." Silver walked up to me with a 'Grand Opening' sign folded up in his hands. "I don't see the point of this sign though. We were open yesterday."

"We had a preview yesterday. We're officially opening on Tuesday" I corrected him. "We're just lucky we started school on a Friday. This way, we have the weekend to prepare."

"But we're not open on Monday." Silver pointed out.

"I know. But the teachers will always start giving out homework on the second day of school." I replied.

"What homework? The only homework they can give us to take care of our pokémon." Scarlett told me as she walked towards us with a notebook in her hands. "Here's the survey. This school will accept any trainer applying. I swear, I felt like some of those fangirls are planning to murder me."

"Probably are." I muttered as I looked over the surveys. Looks like most of this kids wants the dexholders to work here. Figures.

"Um, Blue? We got some people wondering what we're doing." Yellow said as she walked out of the kitchen through the side door.

"What does it look like we're doing? We're setting up our own business!" I exclaimed.

"Well, it's them." Yellow said as she stepped aside. Ash and his friends were standing behind her.

"Oh. What do you guys want?" I asked.

"What's this?" Ash asked. Just to earn a facepalm from Gary.

"Ash, it's a café. We've been in here yesterday." Gary glared at his friend.

"Why are you guys setting up a café?" Dawn asked.

"Our foster father brought this place hoping to give us a sense of responsibility of running our own business so we decided to take his offer and make some extra money with this place." I explained.

"That's cool. Is it okay if we can work here?" May asked.

"I don't know." I said as I looked towards X, Scarlett, and Yellow. We were the seniors here so we have to make the choices.

"Blue, the survey says that these kids will pay anything to be near a dexholder. That's a valid point you might want to think of." Scarlett whispered in my ear. "But of course, the fangirls might also kill us out of jealousy for working with them."

"And your point is?" I asked her.

"I don't know. I'm just pointing out the pros and cons." she shrugged.

"Sorry guys, but we can handle it ourselves." X spoke up. "But it's nice of you to offer."

"Oh, okay. We'll be sure to come by sometimes though." Ash said as he and the other boys walked away. The girls stayed.

"Can we at least help a little? We don't even have to pay us!" Lyra exclaimed.

"We can make those treats for the pokémon we guys had in your display! We're good at that!" Serena added.

"Okay. But you guys don't have to come it every day. Just one of you per day so we can have a special for the day would be nice." I told them.

"Thanks!" they chorused before walking away.

"It seems like you got everything covered here, Blue." Scarlett said. "So is it okay if I leave for the Lounge for a while? I want to check out that place more."

"Go right ahead." I nodded. "We're almost done here."

"Thanks!" she said as she flew off on Char.

"Where did X go?" Yellow asked.

"What? He was just-"I looked around to see another figure chasing after Scarlett. "Do you think Crystal and White will be up to some spying?"

"Ack! Blue! Some help here?" Gold gagged. I looked up and saw that Gold was being crushed by the sign. Black was trying to get it off of him.

Oh, spying would just have to wait. I have a circus to lead.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

 _What do you want to do first?_ Rio asked from inside her pokéball. _There's a training gym on the third floor._

"No, I want to check something else out." I answered out loud as I walked to the music wing. There were barely any students in here since they were either in their housing or in town. What the magic of what a weekend can do to you.

Since school was out, we were all in our casual outfits. We could've worn our usual outfits, but that would be very boring. Blue thought up of the idea of us wearing different outfits for once. We all gave in so we picked something out of our limited closet. I don't know why she wanted us to do it, but whatever. Today, I chose a red tank top with a black jacket draped over it with a black skirt reaching mid thigh with black heeled combat boots.

As a matter of fact, everyone was basically wearing something different than they usually do. Blue was in her little black dress with her white gloves and black ankle boots. She also uses that outfit for spying on occasions. Yellow wore brown riding boots with a pale yellow long shirt with off the shoulder long sleeves and a thin brown belt wrapped around her waist. Under the shirt, she had denim leggings on.

Unlike her usual red, white, and yellow tank top, jacket, and shorts outfit, Crystal traded it in for a pink, white, and blue tank top, jacket, and shorts outfit. Silver wore a grey version of his usual black jacket and purple jeans with no gloves. Gold wore a different yellow and black hat, a different red hoodie, and yellow cargo shorts instead of his black ones.

White wore a denim skirt with brown sandals and a black tank top. She wore a white jacket over it while her hair was down, but was tied with a pink and white pokéball headband. Black wore brown capris with a red and white baseball tee along with a blue jacket over it. On his feet were red converses. Whi-Two wore a red plaid skirt with a white blouse top dress combo with navy bows over her buns and black Mary Janes on. Nate wore a white and grey striped shirt with an open black with green around the edges short sleeve jacket along with jeans with a red belt around it and green sneakers.

Emerald got rid of his gadgets and was wearing a green polo shirt with the sleeves rolled up with blue cargo pants while his Green Orb core which was usually on his forehead was on a belt around his waist with straps filled with his Bullets of Serenity with green sneakers on. X was wearing a checkered fedora on his head with an olive hoodie and damaged jeans with brown short boots.

I paused outside of one of the music rooms. I turned the double doors to it and walked in. Music Room #3 had elegant white walls with a light pink tiled floor. Several instruments were either on stands or packed up neatly in their cases. An ebony baby grand piano was sitting in the middle of the room.

I slowly made my way towards the piano. When I was little, my dad insisted on making me take music lessons. Though I didn't really understand them much, I did learn how to play several instruments. When I went on my journey, I never really had time to practice, but I still remember how to play.

I sat down on the bench and moved it closer to the piano. I uncovered the keys and ran my fingers over the ebony and ivory keys. I closed my eyes and started to play a song that I somehow remembered. I don't know where the lost words came from. I could only remember a part of it before, but it just flowed out.

As my hands flew over the keys, I unconsciously opened my mouth and started to sing.

 ** _I remember tears streaming down your face_**

 ** _When I said, "I'll never let you go"_**

 ** _When all those shadows almost killed your light_**

 ** _I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_**

 ** _But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_**

 ** _Just close your eyes_**

 ** _The sun is going down_**

 ** _You'll be alright_**

 ** _No one can hurt you now_**

 ** _Come morning light_**

 ** _You and I'll be safe and sound_**

 ** _Don't you dare look out your window darling_**

 ** _Everything's on fire_**

 ** _The war outside our door keeps raging on_**

 ** _Hold onto this lullaby_**

 ** _Even when the music's gone_**

 ** _Gone_**

 ** _Just close your eyes_**

 ** _The sun is going down_**

 ** _You'll be alright_**

 ** _No one can hurt you now_**

 ** _Come morning light_**

 ** _You and I'll be safe a-_**

I stopped in the middle of the chorus when I heard clapping from behind me. I snapped opened my eyes and whipped my head towards the door. My eyes widen when I saw who was standing there.

"D-Dan?!" I was shocked.

"Wow. I never thought you could sing like that." he smirked.

"Oh! Um." I quickly stood up and away from the piano. "I thought no one else was here, wait. Why are you here?" I asked.

"I'm a student here." he answered.

"But the first day was yesterday and I didn't see you there." I pointed out.

"That's because I thought yesterday was moving day." Dan answered as he walked closer to me.

"That was stupid." I giggled. "Of course, all of we made stu-"I stopped when I realized what I did the last time I met him. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

 _Oh,_ now _you remember._ Rio commented from her pokéball.

"Shut up." I growled to her quietly.

"What?" Dan asked.

"Nothing!" I said quickly. "Maybe we should- Ah!" I tripped over the piano bench. I was about to faceplant in the floor, when someone caught me. I saw my vision go black as they did.

 _"_ _No! Go away!"_

 _"_ _She can't handle it!"_

 _"_ _Aero! Ancient Power!"_

 _"_ _No! Sissy!"_

 _"_ _It hurts! Ahhhhh!"_

I gasped as I was back on my feet. The voices were gone. I looked up towards Dan who had a worried look on his face.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." I nodded. I took a deep breath. What was that? Those voices sounded familiar and Aero's name was one of them. Does Dad have anything to do about this? Should I ask him? No. It's probably nothing to worry about.

"Maybe we should get some fresh air." Dan suggested. "Let's go." he grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door.

"Ouch!" I pulled my hand back as his hand shocked mines when he touched it.

"Sorry." he said.

"It's fine." I waved it off. "Where do you want to go?" I asked as we walked down the hall.

"The town?" he suggested.

"Sure." I nodded. We decided to walk over there. It wasn't that far, and we could catch up on our way there.

"So what have you've been doing for the last year ever since you ran away from me?" Dan asked.

"Way to put it bluntly." I joked. He shrugged. "And I have just been travelling. Training. Even catching a new pokémon." I answered.

"Can I see it?" he asked.

"Not now." I shook my head. "She needs some rest in her pokéball. What about you? What have you been doing?"

"Me? About the same as you. I even convinced the staff to give me an application to enroll me in this school." Dan answered.

"Well, they basically accept anyone." I mumbled.

 _Especially crazy people._ Rio added.

"There she is! Get her!" Speaking of crazy, I turned around to see a mad mob of girls rushing towards me.

"We have to move!" I grabbed Dan's hand and started to run.

"Why?" he asked as he ran behind me.

"Crazy fangirls!" I answered as we turned a corner. The path led to a part of the town. I ducked under a store sign as we ran through one of the alleyways.

"Ow!" Clearly, Dan didn't duck.

I turned to another corner where it led to a smaller alley. I ducked into there and pulled Dan in. Discreetly, I created an invisible barrier so the fangirls won't be able to see us. They passed and I let it down.

"Good." I sighed. "They're gone."

"And why were they after you?" Dan asked when I looked back up at him.

"I came to this school with some of my friends and we were friends with some boys who came here the year earlier and became popular for some reason." I muttered the last part. "And the fangirls have been jealous since we always hang out with them."

"Have you ever tried battling them? You know, to show them that you're not someone to mess with?" Dan suggested.

"Already did that before school even started." I countered. "And now, it seems like every one of my friends has a rival from that crazy fan club."

"Sounds like a good year for you." Dan joked.

"It really does." I rolled my eyes. I blushed when I realized how close our bodies are to each other. By close, I mean really close. By really close, I mean that the only thing separating our bodies from touching each other were our clothes. "M-maybe we should get out of this alley. I don't even know why I chose this place to in hide in."

"Yeah. Just let me-." Dan scooted out first, but our legs were tangled up and when he got out, I landed on top of him.

"I'm so sorry!" I blushed as I pushed myself off of his chest.

"It's fine." he said as he sat up. I crawled off of him and sat to the concrete as he stood up. When he offered me a hand, I took it.

"Sorry for dragging you into this mess." I looked down at my feet.

"It's fine. Actually, that was the most fun I had in awhile!" he grinned.

"Your sense of fun is different than mines." I smiled as I walked back to the main street of the town.

"Come on. When was the last time you were in a moment that awkward?" Dan asked as he walked beside me.

I blushed as I thought back to when X and I were handcuffed together. That was embarrassing since we were stuck like that for three months! Or maybe was it the time where he saw me naked? That was pretty weird. and if he ever does it again, I'll pummel him!

"My friends and I do a lot of crazy stuff so that's a long list." I answered him. "Actually, they're more like my family since they're all my foster siblings."

"You're in foster care?" Dan asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "My parents died when I was little and I lost all memories of them. A guy named Satoshi took me in a little over a year ago where I met my friends, who were also in foster care. We had a lot of fun together. And we also like to prank each other. Though a certain someone takes things a bit too far." I thought of Blue. And maybe Gold. But mainly Blue. "Nonetheless, we're close. Satoshi enrolled our foster brothers in this school last year and now, all of us are enrolled."

"Satoshi? I feel like I heard of that name before." Dan scratched his head.

"He's a teacher here." I told him. "He's a homeroom teacher and a battling teacher."

"That's where I heard that name! He's my battling teacher." Dan exclaimed.

"Yeah. But he only teaches the highest class, Rise to a Master. And he's really tough." I told him. "My entire class got wiped out by just his Pikachu, even me. I lasted longer than everyone else by some miracle." I lied. It really pains me, but I kept a fake smile on my face.

"Last hour?" he asked.

I nodded. "That's the only class for the entire day."

"Then it looks like I'm in your class." Dan said.

"Hopefully we get to battle then." I smiled

Suddenly, I felt a blast of cold wind hit me. I shivered as I was surrounded by it.

"Are you cold?" Dan asked.

"A little bit." I answered as I wrapped my hand around my arms to warm myself up. It's still the beginning of August, but why is it suddenly so cold on a sunny day?!  
"Scarlett! We need your help!" I saw Blue run up the street.

Now? Really? "Sorry, but I got to go." I said to Dan as I ran towards Blue. "Bye!" I shouted to him.

 _I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about that guy._ Rio said.

 _What kind of bad feeling?_ I asked.

 _I don't know. Some kind of dark aura though._ Rio answered. _It's like he's up to something._

* * *

 **X's POV**

Perfect timing as always Blue. Thank Arceus.

"Gen. Gengar." Lasma faded into view in front of me as I looked from behind a building.

"Great job Lasma." I told him before returning him to his pokéball. Now, should follow Blue and Scarlett or that guy she was with?

"X! Why are you hiding behind a building like a creep?!"

I jumped and turned around. I saw that Crystal and White were glaring at me with stacks of paper in their arms.

"Oh. Well-" I need to think up of an excuse.

"Blue told us that you followed Scarlett when she headed towards the Lounge, really? Spying on her?" White raised a brow.

"This is a new low." Crystal shook her head. Heh, if only she knew of all the things that happened between Scarlett and I. She would probably kick me out of this world. Literally.

"I didn't mean it. I was going to talk to her about something when I saw her walk out of the Lounge with that guy." I pointed to the brunet who was walking away. "Than they were chased by the fangirls so I had Lasma follow them. I spotted them here and when Lasma told me what happened, I told him to chase him away." I said quietly.

White whacked my on the head with a piece of rolled paper. "You don't go snooping in a girl's life! Next time, just leave her be!" she scolded me.

"Fine." I pouted as I rubbed the spot where she hit me.

"Now, can you help us with these? They're heavy." Crystal asked as she passed me the stack of paper in her arms. White did the same.

Struggling, I had to carry them all the way back to the café, which luckily wasn't that far. We walked in and a bell chimed over the door. I placed the stacks of paper down on the counter and took a deep breath.

"Wow! These menus look great!" Blue commented as she picked one up.

"But what took you so long?" Gold asked.

"We had to stop when we caught X spying on Scarlett." Crystal glared at me.

"I wasn't spying!" I exclaimed.

"By the way you described it to us, it sounded like spying." White countered.

"Oh! So you finally decided to spy on Scarlett than?" Blue raised a brow. "Why? Was it because of that guy she was with?" When I said nothing, she grinned widely. "I knew it! Do you know anything about him?"

"No." I shook my head. "But Scarlett certainly does. I think she called him Dan or something? He must go this school if he's here."

"Silver?" Blue looked at him.

"Already on it." Silver said as he typed away on a laptop. "Dan Kuso. 17 years old. Fourth year. Just transferred this year. Preferred type, fire. Born in Orre, raised in Mauville, Hoenn. No information on any family, but it says that he never returned home ever since starting on his journey." Silver reported.

"Did you hack into the school system?" Crystal asked.

"It's really easy. You would think a school this high up would have better security." Silver shrugged. "By the way, Gold has been installing security cameras in your house."

"I told you not to tell anyone!" Gold exclaimed.

Silver simply shrugged. "They would've figured it out."

"That is a major invasion of privacy!" Crystal shouted at him. "You pervert!" she kicked him out through the door.

"Did he see anything?" Blue asked.

"He hasn't gotten a chance to connect them up yet." Silver answered.

"White, Whi-Two, when we get back to our house, check for cameras anywhere." Blue told them. They nodded.

"Blue, I know that I saw Scarlett walk with you so where is she?" I asked, getting back on task.

"I sent her out to hang up posters for this place." Blue said as she held one up.

"Since when did you have time to design and copy those?" Yellow asked.

"Late last night. I designed this while we were designing the other stuff and snuck out to copy these!" Blue answered as she held up a poster with the café logo on it.

I'm getting tired of just being here. We're finished everything for getting this place set up so maybe I should go bail.

"Well, I'm off." I said as I headed towards the door.

"Hold up!" Blue stopped me. Damn, does that woman ever leave us be? "We still need some work on my campaign!"

Oh joy. This is going to be fun. By the way, that was sarcasm.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

"Something wrong Blue?" I asked her as I walked towards the table she was sitting at. We finished with the café so everyone was hanging around town. Blue and I were still inside.

"It's nothing. Just something that has been bothering me since last year and that just sparked in me when we got here." she answered.

"What is it?" I sat across from her.

"Ash and Gary. The names and faces both sound and look familiar, but I don't know where." she replied.

"They do live in Pallet Town. Maybe they're from your childhood or something." I suggested.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "That's where! They used to be my best friends when I was little! We played together all the time until-" her face dropped as she stopped.

"It's fine." I told her. "That's behind us. We can forget about it."

"But what about them? What if they remembered me?" Blue asked.

"Blue, if they haven't recognized you now, they would. You even go by a different name so it's very unlikely." I told her. "If Ash wasn't about to recognize his own twin sister, than I doubt the two boys would be able to remember you."

"Actually, I do remember Ashley." Blue said quietly.

"What?" I was surprised.

"I was just acting when I first met her. I knew that she was one of my best friends when I was little. When I saw her again, it seemed like she didn't remember me. If she didn't remember me, then I didn't want to bring it back up." she said quietly. "When we went to Pallet Town to check her past, I was determined to find out what really happened to her."

"But shouldn't you have?" I asked her.

"No. At the same time I was kidnapped, she was in that accident." Blue shook her head. "Everyone heard about me, but no one heard about Ashley. Ever. They all acted like she didn't exist."

"Just like her mother." I muttered.

"Exactly. Something must have happened for an entire town to cover it up. Even though she doesn't remember me, I am determined to figure out what happened. She was my best friend back then, and she is still one of them." a tear slid down Blue's cheek.

"You're not alone then." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "All of us will figure out what happened."

"But what if she suddenly remembers?" Blue realized. "Family Day is next week and I'm sure that everyone's parents will come. Delia included. If she sees her long lost daughter and her husband-"

"I'm sure she won't realize that it's them." I pointed out.

"Trust me Yellow, a mother will be able to see who is her child. When I ran into my mother after ten years on one of our missions, I saw tears in her eyes. She knew it was me. And Delia will know that Scarlett is her Ashley." Blue countered.

"Than we'll keep them away from each other. We can't let them even see each other." I suggested.

"Now that we're here, we have to be extra careful." Blue said. "Ash will wise up and see his sister who he had no memories of. Gary will be the hardest since he hung out with us all the time too. He will see that Scarlett is Ashley and tell Ash."

 _Ding!_

We turned around towards the door to see Gary standing there. He had a shocked expression on his face. Oh no! He must have heard our conversation!

"Aw shit!" Blue groaned.

"She's- she's - Scarlett is actually- " Gary stuttered.

"Should just knock him out or take of him for good?" Blue asked me.

"Blue!" I scolded her. "We are not killing him!"

"So we're knocking him out then?" she looked at me. "Okay!"

 _Thud!_

I looked back towards Gary who were unconscious on the floor with a hovering flying pan behind him.

"Good job Ditty!" Blue smiled.

I facepalmed. She just made this a lot worse.

We had to carry the unconscious boy behind the counter so no one will be able to see him. Geez, he is heavy! Or am I just weak? Eh, it may be both.

"Ah!" Gary gasped as Blue threw a bucket, or Ditty, I can't tell at this point, filled with cold water at his face.

"Blue!" I scolded her.

"What? What happened?!" he asked frantically.

"You just fainted in front of our business! And we don't need stray bodies when we're opening up a place!" Blue lied.

"No. No, that's not it. It was-" he sat up with his eyes wide. "Ashley!"

"And you would think hitting him would make him forget." Blue mumbled to herself.

"But that's impossible! She was- she was-" Gary muttered.

"She was what?!" Blue shook him.

"Wait a minute." he stopped her. "How do you know her?"

"Blue, you should really tell him." I told her. "Plus he will figure it out sooner or later."

"Tell me what?" he glared at us.

"Fine." she huffed. She took off her gloves and showed us the inside of her wrists. On her right wrist, there was a burn shaped like a leaf. On her left, there was three burns in total, two flames and one drop of water.

"Leaf?" Gary looked up at her.

"Who else do you know have burns like these? I know that you, Ash, and-" she choked back a sob "Ashley have them. Each of them different. It was our secret markings to show that we were all best friends."

I saw that Gary frantically moved his watch and the wristband on his other hand and showed us his wrist. His right wrist had a drop of water while his left had a leaf and two flames.

"Greenie?" Blue whispered.

"There's only person who calls me that." Gary said.

Blue just broke out sobbing in front of us. Gary slowly moved her to his chest.

I feel like I'm really intruding on this moment so I decided to exit through the kitchen. They need this little moment.

* * *

 **Gary's POV**

Is this real? Is this really real? A girl who was one of my best friends just told me that she was in front of me the entire time.

When Blue, Leaf, I don't know what to call her, stopped crying, she sat in front of me.

"Le-"I started, but she cut me off.

"Please, just call me Blue. It's easier." she said.

"Okay. Blue." I nodded. "Where have you been? Last time I heard, you were kidnapped."

"By a bird pokémon." she finished. "I was taken to a shady facility where I was tortured and worked under a dictator who called herself the Shadow Lady. I escaped along with my faux little brother and Satoshi found us and took us in."

I knew that she was still lying. "Blue, tell me the truth."

"But that is the truth! Don't you trust me, Greenie?" she pouted.

"I forgot how annoying that nickname was." I muttered. "The last part you told me was a lie."

"Geez, after all these years and you can still see when I'm lying." she rolled her eyes. "Fine. It's true about Satoshi taking us in, but that's not his real name."

"Shocker." I rolled my eyes.

"He's Red." she said quietly.

"Red as in-"I widen my eyes.

"Missing Kanto Champion as well as the father of Ashton and Allison Ketchum." she nodded.

"So that was why you were sneaking around the Hall!" I exclaimed.

"Really? Was that what you got from that?" she scowled at me. "I just told you that your best friend's missing, nearly forgotten, long lost twin sister was still alive and her father showed up out of nowhere!"

Right! Ashley! "How did you meet her?" I asked Blue.

"I didn't. She met us." Blue said. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize her when her face and name were all over the media when she won all of the Pokémon Leagues!"

Oh! So that was where I knew her from! Wow. Ash's stupidity was really rubbing off on me. "But didn't the media said that she disappeared mysteriously?"

"That's what they always say." Blue shook her head. "In reality, she joined us and met her father again. She changed everything about herself and we dived deeper into her past. But we only gotten so far, and she knows that we were finding out her past that she doesn't even know."

"What about Ash than? And me? Does she remember us?" I asked.

"She doesn't remember anything. When I met her, she didn't remember me. You saw how she didn't recognize you or Ash. How were you able to forget her?" Blue asked me.

"When that accident happened, we were young. Gramps convinced us that nothing happened. Somehow, he convinced Ash that he didn't have a sister since he was caught up in it. I forgot about her. I forgot about you." I replied.

"It's fine. It's doesn't matter. Ash doesn't know about Ashley nor does she him. Their own mother refuses to talk about her own daughter or her husband."

"Something must've happened to make that happen. I have to talk to Gramps about this." I stood up.

"No!" Blue grabbed my hand. "Please don't tell anyone. Especially, Ash, Ashley, or Red. They would hate all of us just because we knew. We hid it from Ashley for the longest of time and I don't want her to know. Please, don't tell anyone." she pleaded with me.

I feel conflicted. I want to tell my best friend that his sister and best friends were still alive and existed, but Blue's look. I have never seen her to vulnerable. I think that it was those moments when we were kids, but I conceited.

"Fine. I won't tell anyone about what we said about you or Ashley." I sighed.

"Thank you." Blue sighed. "By the way, Greenie, you should really watch your back. Best friends or not, I'm determined to take that president seat from you." she smirked as she stood up.

I smiled. That's the Leaf I remember.

* * *

 **Don't kill me. Please. I had too. It would make more sense.**

 **And the outfit ideas I got mainly from the anime, manga and games. Blue's is obvious, Yellow is my own creation, X's is from the game with the different clothes they have, Crystal's is Marina's, Gold's is his GSC outfit, Silver's is his HGSS beta, Emerald is his ORAS outfit, Black's and White's are also original while Whi's and Lack's are their 'school' outfits in the Pokestar Studios.**

 **And my laptop is acting up so much lately that updating or publishing one chapter would take two hours. Yeah. It sucks.**

 **So see you all next time. Don't forget to review!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	26. Family Day: Autumn

**And we now return you to your regularly scheduled program!**

 **I'm serious. Enough random updates for the time being. I think I spoiled a lot of you. But whatever. And sorry for this sorta late update!**

 **So I got my wisdom teeth out. Felt like hell when I got home. But I'm better now and should be back to eating solid food in another week. Ugh, I'm getting sick of all these protein shakes I'm drinking.**

 **I think that's it for the A/N this time. So I should get to the reviews and all of you read the chapter.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: You just have to wait and see!**

 **.18: Thanks! I'm already in too deep to be doing that. Trust me. Really? Haven't heard of that one yet. Maybe I should look it up... and who knows? Maybe he's just a random Pikachu. (I've read theories about his Pikachu and I have to say, I'm intrigued, but...)maybe the truth of Ash's Pikachu will be revealed soon! (In this fic. My version. Not the canon)**

 **Trying to make this short since I have a ton of homework to do and I haven't touched any of it. I'm turning into my sister. Oh man. That can't happen!**

 **Disclaimer** **: I don't own Pokemon. Or anything else I refer to. Just my OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

 **White's POV**

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Gold asked as we stood under the shade of the giant tree with Celebi carved into it in the middle of the courtyard. Scarlett was busy somewhere else. You can guess what we're talking about.

"Simple, keep Ash away from Scarlett and make sure that Delia and Red never meet face to face." Blue explained.

"So keep the separated family separated?" Emerald asked.

"Yep!" Blue beamed.

"Not a very good plan." I sighed.

"It's Family Day. One of the most crowded day of the school year." X pointed out.

"And us without our family." I sighed again.

"Do you really want him here?" Lack-Two asked.

"And what about us?" Whi-Two raised a brow.

"Believe me, it's great having two annoying siblings, but it would be great if Mom was here." I pointed out.

"Ha! I knew it!" Blue cheered.

"Nee-san, what did you do?" Silver asked.

"Oh nothing!" she smiled. "Just that I invited all of our non-evil family members!"

"You what?!" we exclaimed.

"Blue! Tell me you're kidding!" Crystal exclaimed.

"Nope!" Blue grinned. "I invited my mom and dad to meet up with Silver and I, Yellow's uncle, X's parents, Crystal's mother, Gold's mother, Black's mother, White's, Lack-Two's, and Whi-Two's mother, and finally, Latias and Latios for Emerald!"

"Oh my! There's my sweet nephew!" a young woman in a red maid-like dress with a white apron and a blue rounded triangle on each puffed sleeve exclaimed. Her red hair was tied in two long pigtails with the rest of her hair styled liked Latias' head ran up and picked up Emerald in a death hug.

"Tia, let the boy go, you're squeezing the air out of him." a young man with blue hair just below his ears semi styled as Latios' head and a blue butler-like outfit with a white shirt and a red rounded triangle on each of his cuffs sighed as he walked up to the woman.

"Well excuse me, Tio, if I'm feeling emotional after seeing our nephew after what? Five years?" 'Tia' dropped Emerald to place her hands in her hips and glare at 'Tio'.

"Is that actually you guys?" Emerald asked as he rubbed his head.

"Yep!" Tia answered gladly while Tio just nodded.

"And those are the best names you can think of?" Emerald raised a brow.

"Well excuse me if big brother here said to go with something 'low key' and 'unsuspicious'." Tia put air quotes up.

"You're the one who couldn't wait to see our 'nephew'." Tio countered.

"Let's leave them." Blue pulled the rest of us away while Emerald was catching up with his 'aunt' and 'uncle'.

"How did you-?" X asked.

"I borrowed Scarlett's Eon Flute and called them here." Blue explained.

"By borrowed, do you mean steal?" Yellow asked.

"No! I put it back right after I used it!" Blue defended.

"Is that my little Topaz gem I see?" a man with a fisherman hat walked up to us.

"Uncle Wilton!" Yellow ran into his arms.

"Oh! You grew at least a foot ever since I saw you!" her uncle hugged her.

Gold snickered, but Crystal stomped on his foot to shut him up.

"Oh Krissy!" a woman in an extravagant outfit stood next to a woman in regular clothing waved over to us.

"Mom?" she stared at the woman in disbelief.

"Come on Super Serious Girl!" Gold grabbed her hand and dragged her off to meet up with their moms.

"Hey X! I think I see your parents over there with my mom!" Black pointed to two retired Ace Trainers with a brunette woman with an apron. Black ran over to them with X following.

"Blue, you know that we're supposed to be, well, not existing." I pointed out.

"Yes, but I checked with each and every one of them and they promised to keep us a secret and they know about our other names. They said that they wouldn't butt into any of our business." Blue explained. "Oh! Silvy! Look! My parents!" she grabbed Silver's hand and skipped towards a couple.

"White, do you know where Mom is?" Whi-Two asked.

"Blue did say that she's here, but I don't see her anywhere." I looked over the sea of people. I thought a saw a familiar greenet, but I could be wrong. I don't see it anymore.

"Ah! White!" Whi-Two and Lack-Two suddenly screamed and hid behind me.

"What are you two-?" I looked at them before turning around to see what spooked them. "N?"

"Hello." he waved.

"What are you doing here? In fact, what are you walking around scaring kids? People do know who you are." I pointed out to my half-brother.

"Yes, but during those years during which you were absent, I have been able to redeem myself and the remaining members of Team Plasma." N explained calmly.

"That's better. I guess." I crossed my arms. Despite being somewhat related to him, I still don't trust him. Especially when he told me he was the king of Team Plasma in the ferris wheel. I moved my eyes away from N when I spotted a brown bun coming towards us. Whi-Two and Lack-Two moved from behind to me to greet N. When I saw the brown bun close to us, my eyes widen.

"Mom!" I ran past my three siblings and hugged the woman with the brown bun.

"Oh! Honey!" I wrapped my arms around her and she hugged me back. "Wow. Look at you! You've grown so much."

"Thanks." I smiled as I pulled away. "Whi-Two, Lack-Two! Come on!" I called out to them. I turned back to our mother. "By the way, when we're undercover, we're cousins, not siblings."

"I got the talk from Blue so don't worry." she winked.

"See guys,' Auntie' is here!" I told Whi-Two and Lack-Two. They gave me a confused look, but they quickly got it.

"Oh! You two have grown a lot too! How long has it been?" Mom asked as she hugged them.

"Last time was what? When we were ten?" Lack-Two asked his sister.

"And since now we're 15, it'll be five years." Whi-Two nodded.

"Hello Mrs Shiroi." N walked up to us and bowed.

"Oh. N. You're here too." Mom looked surprised. "If you're here, than is _he_ here?"

"Of course not. He's safely locked up at the International Police Headquarters." N answered.

"Since we're all here, maybe we should catch up?" I suggested.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Blue's probably going to kill me, but why does it matter if I'm late?" I sighed as I viewed myself in the mirror. I had my alternative outfit on, but instead of that black skirt, I had black jeans on.

 _She did say that she invited everyone's family for today._ Rio pointed out.

"I know and the only family I have is always on campus." I said as I walked out of the bathroom.

 _Don't feel bad. It's not your fault._ Rio assured me as she stood straight after leaning on the balcony.

"I don't know why, but it does feel like it a little bit." I sighed as I picked my helmet. "Alright, I'm going out for a ride. When I come back, I don't want this room to be a mess." I told Pika, Rio, and Sol. Char, Saur, and Tor were in their pokeballs on my belt.

 _You got it!_ Rio saluted.

I rolled my eyes and went out of my room. I closed the door and walked downstairs. When I reached the living room, I went to the little door leading to a small garage next to the house. I opened up the garage door leading outside and rolled my electric scooter out. I closed the door and got on.

I clicked the buckle of the helmet under my chin and flipped the visor down over my eyes. I started up the scooter and started down the road.

My hair, currently in a ponytail, fluttered in the wind behind me. The visor blocked out any glare as I rode up the path overlooking the campus grounds. I sneaked a peek over to the side where the school was and saw everyone enjoying time with their family. I saw Blue and Silver talking to a couple who looks a lot like Blue. Emerald was busy talking to a redheaded lady and a blunet man both in fancy outfits.

I turned back to the road and rode all the way up to a cliff overlooking the sea. I stopped and took off my helmet when I saw that someone else was up here.

"Dan?" I asked as I set my helmet on the seat when I got off.

"Hmm?" he turned around. "Oh hey, Scarlett! That's a nice ride."

"Thanks. My foster brothers got one each for me and my foster sisters last year." I answered him as I walked up to him. "What are you doing up here? It's Family Day."

"I actually don't have any family." he answered.

"Really? That's sad." I commented.

"I know. When I went on my journey, my family died in a house fire and now, I have no one else. What about you? Don't you have family?" Dan asked.

"No. That's why I'm in foster care. My parents died in an accident when I was little." I shook my head.

"That must be hard." Dan stated as he turned around towards me.

"Not really. I sort of lost my memories when it happened. I was like five so anything before five, all wiped." I said.

"There's a lot of things I don't know about you than." Dan grinned.

"No kidding." I muttered under my breath.

"I actually have to go somewhere, but maybe we should meet up again. Talk about our life and stuff." Dan suggested.

"Sounds good. I'm always busy during my free hour and after school Tuesdays and Fridays, but other than that, I'm free when I don't have classes." I said.

"I'll call you than!" he shouted as he ran down towards the school.

I sighed and sat down, swinging my legs over the cliff. I gripped the edge of the cliff on either side of me with my hands. I closed my eyes and let the sun warm up my skin. I felt a gust of wind on my face and someone landing beside me. I opened my eyes when my dad sat down next to me.

"You okay?" Dad asked..

"It's Family Day. I don't have a family when I'm undercover." I stated as I looked straight ahead.

"Sorry that I had to say that. I really am." Dad said.

I should've known though. "The missing Kanto Champion can't have a daughter who looks nothing like her father." I said bitterly. "But, it was actually for the best. I rather have it this way. And here." I placed a stack of bills in my dad's hand. "The others and I have been complaining about your flying skills so we worked for the last week to get you enough money for piloting lessons."

"You're really growing up." he smirked.

"I have been for the last seven years. But of course, you weren't there to see me." I said as I looked down below towards the sea.

"How long are you going to remind me?" Dad asked.

"How long until you're going to act like a real father? Not one who is always looking over their child's shoulder, not one who forces their child to be just like you, not one who slips into their fake persona when they finally believe that their child is finally ready when they have been for years." I pushed down the anger in me.

"I- I actually have something to tell you." Dad said.

 _Ring!_

"Yes?" I picked up my pokégear.

"Scarlett! Where are you? They're about to announce the results for Student Council!" Blue exclaimed.

"I'll be there don't worry." I told her.

"Well hurry up! Professor Oak is about to say the winner!" Blue exclaimed before hanging up.

I put my pokégear away and walked over to my scooter.

"If you want to talk with me again, do it when you realize what it means to be a real father." I told my dad before riding away.

I said nothing else as I dodged people, weaving through the crowd before stopping near the front of the stage.

"Nice entrance." X commented as I stopped.

"Wasn't really a place to park." I rolled my eyes at him as I took off my helmet.

"You can keep flirting later, but now, just shut up!" Blue hushed us. I blushed as I went over to stand between X and Crystal who rolled her eyes at Blue.

"Welcome students and family! Happy Family Day!" Professor Oak announced as he stood on stage with a microphone in his hand. "I hope that everyone is having fun! Per tradition, we will now announce the new Student Council President! Gary! Come up here!"

Everyone clapped as Gary walked on stage. I swear, he was giving me a weird look.

"Now! Can our other candidate come up here?" Professor Oak asked. Blue immediately squeaked and rushed up stage. I could actually hear some hissing coming from some of the girls behind us.

"And the new student council president is," Professor Oak paused once Blue and Gary were on either side of him on stage. "Blue Aoi!"

"Go Blue!" I heard Whi-Two shout as mostly everyone else clapped, cheered, and screamed. By mostly, I meant everyone who weren't any of those crazy, messed up fangirls.

"Congratulations!" Professor Oak said as Blue was hopping up and down on stage. "Starting tomorrow, you can change the school to a even better one!"

"You better believe that I'm gonna to!" Blue smiled.

Once everyone was settled down, and we got Blue way from the cameras, everyone and their families decided to have a small party at the café.

"So they are-"I pointed to the redheaded lady and blunet man.

"I'm Tia and this is my older brother Tio!" the lady exclaimed.

"Tia and Tio?" I raised a brow.

"They're actually the legendary pokémon, Latias and Latios." Emerald sighed. "Even though they're Legendary pokémon, they can't come up with better names!"

"Well excuse me if Latios said, 'Just make up any name! We're going to be late!' even though we can fly here in under ten minutes!" Tia shouted.

I decided to move away from that interesting 'family' and to the others.

"What were your excuses when the others asked?" I asked X.

"We just said that our parents were actually our aunts and uncles who raised us, so we called them 'Mom' and 'Dad' before we had to go in foster care." he shrugged.

"Oh! Xavier! Is this that sweet girl you were telling us about?" an aged blonde woman asked him. I'm guessing that's his mom.

"Mom!" he blushed.

"Honey, don't bother the boy. It looks like he already got her roped." a man with gray hair poking through his purple hair said.

"Dad!" X shouted even louder.

"U-Um." I stuttered as I blushed.

"Blue! What have you been telling my parents?" X demanded.

"Nothing~!" she sang from behind the counter. "Just that little incident three months ago! And our training mission last year."

"And when she told us that! I knew that the young lady you're always around is going to be my future daughter-in-law!" X's mom exclaimed.

"MOM!" X shouted.

I quietly slipped away from them and retreated into the kitchen, to get away from that soon-to-be awkward scene. If it wasn't already.

I took a deep breath when I walked in. No one else was in here so I was alone. I turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. It felt like my face was under a hot lamp when I was out there! Geez, do mothers always want to embarrass their children?!

I sighed as I wiped my face with a towel. Suddenly, my vision turned black and then there was a bright light.

 _"Vital levels?"_

 _"Normal."_

 _"Ma'am! Her power levels are rising!"_

 _"Contain her! We can't let her get out! Not now!"_

 _"Ma'am we can't control her! Her dark energy is too much!"_

 _"Aaaaahhhh! No! Get it out of me! Get it out!"_

I gasped and stumbled backwards. I fell on my butt on the tiled floor.

"Ouch! That hurts." I complained as I rubbed my behind. I stood up slowly.

What the hell was that? It wasn't like when Dan and I were in the music room. That one felt farther away. This one felt a bit closer. Just a little bit. But what were they exactly? I don't remember anything like that in my life ever before.

I brushed my hands off on my pants. I did a double take when I saw my hands. I swear, they glowed a dark purple, almost black, color, but I guess I was wrong. They looked normal.

 _Knock! Knock!_

I shrugged it off and went to open the back door in the kitchen. I twisted the handle and opened it to see Ash and Gary standing there.

"Can I help you?" I asked them.

"Yeah. Is it okay if we talk to Blue?" Gary asked. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me. That's odd; usually he does because he wants to be all high and mighty.

"For exactly why?" I asked.

"We just want to congratulate her. That's all." Ash answered.

I thought about it. There's really no harm in it. The others already have their family's stories covered.

"Fine. But don't tell anyone I let you in. We're closed today." I told them. They nodded and I opened the door wider so they can walk in.

I closed the back door and led than to the front.

"Before I let you guys in, I have to ask." I stopped before the door. "Where are your families? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"My mom is talking with Professor Oak and Daisy." Ash answered. "They should be meeting us in town soon."

If I let them in through the front, everyone can see and we could be mobbed by fangirls, but it could also provide us more business. I was thinking this while Ash was answering that decoy question.

"Fine. Let's go." I opened the door to the front and led them through.

"I am happy with my current fashion sense! I don't need any more advice!" Crystal shouted.

"Honey! You have been wearing that same old outfit for years now and now you're wearing the same one with different colors? Just let me help you!" Crys' mom pleaded.

"Ahem!" I got everyone's attention. "'We have guests with us."

"Heh. Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Ash whispered to Gary.

"It's fine. They're always this... dysfunctional." I found a word for it. That was me being nice too.

"So, what do you guys want?" Blue asked. Her eyes were darting between Ash and I. How odd.

"We were just here to congratulate you. I hope you can make this school even better." Ash smiled.

"Well, we're done here. Let's go." Gary grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the door.

"Oh! Hey Gary! We were just coming in to meet up with you!" Daisy said as Gary opened the door when she, Professor Oak and a redheaded woman walked up to the door.

"Auntie! Uncle, can you take Scarlett and go-um, find some flowers for the tables?!" Emerald said quickly.

"But we don't-" Tia started.

"I'll help!" X grabbed my hand and pushed Tia and Tio into the kitchen. He led us out the back door and out onto the street.

"X! Slow down, will you?!" I exclaimed.

"Seriously! We can't run that fast either!" Tio panted as he and Tia tried to catch up.

"X!" I stopped him. "What is with you?!" I yanked my hand from his grip.

"Um, we're going to be over here." Tia pushed her brother away.

"What do you mean?" X asked.

"You change your personality like a Kecleon changes types." I said. "One moment, you're a pervert, then the next, you never say a word to me. I heard that boys are complicated, but after three months of being handcuffed together, I thought I knew you. But now, I'm not sure if I really do."

"We can't talk here." X said quietly. He grabbed my hand again and dragged me into an alley. This situation feels very familiar.

"Tell me." I said quietly.

"Scarlett, I'm sorry if I've been acting that way. I have just been preoccupied lately." X said as he held both of my hands.

"With what?" I asked.

"I can't say." he sighed.

"Why? Why can't you?" I asked him. "I don't know why, but I feel like you've been keeping something from me. Actually, everyone is."

"Trust me when I tell you this, I will never ever keep anything from you. Ever." X said quietly.

"Thank you." I said. I looked down at my wrists. Nothing was on there. Not a scar, not a burn. They were clean. It was like nothing existed.

* * *

 **?'s POV**

"Report."

"Subject appears to have no memories."

"Anything else?"

"Subject seems to have a reaction though."

"How so?"

"Upon contact, subject seems to flashback. Nothing clear though."

"Anymore?"

"Unclear. I'll contact you when I have more."

"Make it soon."

"Yes, milady."

* * *

 **Silver's POV**

Our families were roaming around town with Ash, Daisy, and Professor Oak leading them. Scarlett and X were still out somewhere. Only Gary was in here with us.

"Why is he in here?" I asked. I find it weird.

"Guys, it's fine. He's cool." Nee-san said.

"And by that?" I raised a brow.

"He knows." she said.

"WHAT?!" we all shouted.

"Blue! How could you?!" Crystal scolded her.

"Guys! Before you all kill me, just let me explain!" Nee-san exclaimed.

"Alright. But make it quick." Lack-Two nodded.

"Okay, so when we met Ashley, I actually met her before since she was one of my best friends along with Gary and Ash when we were little and before I was kidnapped and Ashley was in that accident. I pretended to not know her, and it all went well. When we came here, I knew that I saw Gary and Ash before I broke into Pallet Town Hall, and then it hit me! Not literally of course. They were some of my best friends! So than I went on about how I knew about Ashley and Gary and Ash, which was when Gary walked in and I had to knock him out and when he came to, I had to tell him everything and I knew that he remembered since he still had his burns we all had when we branded ourselves using Red's Charizard! I than made him promise not to tell anyone about this, especially Ash or Ashley!" Nee-san said very, very, very quickly.

"But wait, when I was partnered with Scarlett, she never had any burns or anything on her wrists." Crystal spoke.

"Red! He must've had something to do with it!" Black exclaimed.

"But why would he do that?" White asked.

"From my limited memory of him, Red has been a very secretive man." Gary spoke up.

"We actually know that already." Gold butted in.

"Yet, he cares for his family." Gary ignored him.

"But why keep secrets from both of his children?" Yellow asked.

"I don't know." Gary shook his head.

"If you're willing, we'll love to have you help us with this little mystery." Nee-san offered.

"Blue! What are you saying?" Crystal exclaimed. "We just can't ask him to do it.

"It's fine. I can keep a secret. I'm also interested in this little ordeal too." Gary interrupted.

"Then I can hope we can trust you to keep this a secret and figure everything." I told him.

"If it's to help Ashley and Ash, I'll do it." he nodded.

"Now that we got that out of the way!" Nee-san clapped her hands together. "Can we get back to student council business? I really don't know the future plans."

"Pesky woman." Gary muttered under his breath, which I glared at. "But we do have a homecoming dance and pep rally next week."

"Good! I'll just organize that along with the student council!" Nee-san exclaimed.

"Blue! I thought we discussed that you were not going to shift the entire student council!" White scolded her.

"I'm not!" Nee-san exclaimed. "I'm just going to move some people around, kick some out, and insert others in!"

"Like who?" Gary asked.

"First, I'm going to insert you as my VP. Then move Ash to nothing. I'm kicking him out, he's useless in my eyes. I'm replacing Gold as the Event Planner while Crys is going to replace Silver as the Treasurer." Nee-san explained.

"Why?" I asked.

"Crys is better at math and all that stuff and I think you're be better off with Lack-Two as Security detail. I'll figure the rest out later." Nee-san waved it off.

We all have things to figure out later.

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Red sighed as he walked into his apartment in the teachers' quarters. He closed the front door and walked into his bedroom. He opened his closet and pulled out a large book.

Red sat on his bed as he opened it. It was a photo album. He flipped through the pages filled with memories and happy moments. Before the accident.

Red settled on one page in particular. He took out a photo from the protective pocket. It was a picture of the Ketchum family. Two children, one girl and one boy, who looked about four or five with hair that was as black as the night, were smiling and waving at the camera as their parents, an auburn woman and a man with striking red eyes and raven black hair smiled behind them.

The children had one mark on their right wrists and three other marks on their left wrist. Both had the same markings.

Red smiled as he brushed a finger over the markings. "How they got Charizard to do that still eludes me." he chuckled. He placed the photo back in and took out another photo.

This time, it was only children. The two raven haired children were present along with two more children, a boy with spiky auburn hair and a girl with brown, almost gray, flowing hair. They were all the same age. They were laying on the grass, all in a circle. Each of them held each other's hand. The photo was taken from above with the children laughing and smiling.

"They're all back together again." Red smiled as he placed the photo back. He took another one out.

It was a picture of the family from the first photo and the children from the second. An aging man with grey hair and a couple with brunet hair were added though. Everyone was smiling as they were relaxing near a large building with a windmill.

"Old friends." Red sighed as he placed the picture back. He pulled out a final picture from the page.

This picture was one that was similar, yet different than the others. It was the family again, but they weren't posing for any pictures. It was just a photo of the family having fun. The red-eyed man had the boy on his shoulder as he ran around a yard. The auburn mother had the girl in her lap as they laughed at the foolishness the males were having. A moment frozen in time.

Who knew two people who had the time of their lives could forget it so easily?

"Where did the time go?" Red said as he placed the picture back. He closed the photo album. As a single tear slid down his cheek and landed on the hard cover.

Indeed. Where did that time go? And what happened to those lost memories?

* * *

 **Who was that I wonder? Well, I know, but See if any of you can figure it out!**

 **Aw! Red! That's so cute! And for anyone of you think Red's a horrible father, just wait until I reveal his secret! It should be revealed in two chapters? Yeah two. But the real deal is coming out next chapter! Trust me, you're going to wait to read that one!**

 **So that's all people! Thought I was going to say something else, huh?! Well you're wrong! I can't get sued. I'm broke. Please review...it really makes my day...**

 ***sulks in corner***

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	27. Homecoming: Part One

**Happy almost spring everybody! Even though it doesn't certainly feel like spring here.**

 **And extra long chapter this time!**

 **I am now going to shut up and reply to the review!**

 **keaton-furman-prower: You thinks right! Though it's going to take a long while... sorry!**

 **That's it. So I'm going to do the disclaimer and you can get on with the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Pokemon. Just my OCs. And I don't own the stuff I will refer to. Or the song in here.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Blue, are you really making me go?" I whined.

"Yes! It's a pep rally and everyone has to go!" she replied. "Especially you. You're the Student Council Spokesperson!"

"I don't know even why you chose me for this." I groaned.

"I'm already the President and Event Planner, Gary's my VP. Crys is the Treasurer while Black is the Secretary. Gold is the head of the Battling Events. Dawn and May are in charge of Contests. Lyra is our School Spirit Monitor. Silver and Lack-Two are in charge of Security. X is still Secretary of State while Serena and Barry are both the School Board Representatives. White is in charge of the Theatre Department and Lucas and Brendan are Representatives for the student body. Everyone else who was in is kicked out." Blue explained.

"That's a nice way to put it as." Whi-Two commented.

"We should really head out now. We're about to be late." White informed us.

"Let's head to the garage." Crystal said. We were already in our uniforms and we headed to the garage built in the side of our building. The only things in there were our scooters.

"SENPAI!" a loud voice yelled in a whining tone. Suddenly, as we opened the garage door to the outside, Lyra, Dawn, May, and Serena were standing there. I'm guessing Lyra was the one who yelled.

"What do you guys need?" Yellow asked.

"Do you mind if you guys give us a ride? When we went to our garage this morning, the bikes we ride to campus every day were ruined!" Dawn explained.

"Probably by those fangirls." May added.

"We're about to be late too." Serena finished.

"Sure, just hop on." I nodded I placed my helmet on as Lyra went with Crys, Dawn with White, May with Yellow, and Serena with Blue. "Everyone ready?" I asked them. They nodded. "Hold on!"

All of us sped off from the garage with it closing behind us. We weaved between the crowds of students until we got to the part of town where we could park our bikes and not have them stolen. Once I got in a spot, the bike automatically locked and I showed my ID in the scanner. I took off my helmet and bought out Char. I hopped on him and flew to the homeroom stop.

I know it seems unnecessary to use scooters and pokémon to get to a place about five minutes away, but it is. The campus may only be five minutes away from the housing, but it is also very large, hence why we use pokémon to get around. The town is pretty big too. We're not allowed to use our pokémon other than at our houses, on campus, in town, or while classes are in session. So yeah, now you see why. Whoever made the rule where we can't use them to get between each place while classes weren't in session is sure to get a lot of complaints.

Everyone parted ways as we went to our separate rooms. The other seniors and I got into our seats as soon as the bell rang. The others were going at a speed I couldn't possibly see so they may also be safe.

"It's nice to see that you joined us, girls." Satoshi stated as he closed the door.

"Way to cut it close." X smirked.

"Shut up." I glared at him.

"As all of you are aware, today is homecoming." Satoshi explained. "And because of that, all classes are cut short by fifteen minutes, but homeroom is still the same. You are here for fifteen minutes."

I looked out of the window. We never do much in homeroom except to talk to each other. I am really not looking forward to this afternoon. Since Blue forced me against my will to be the council's spokesperson, I have to say 'hello' to everyone this afternoon. I don't even know what Blue is doing as President since I'm basically doing her job now.

The bell rang again, signaling the end of homeroom. Let the day begin.

* * *

"Now, Saur, Frenzy Plant and Tor use Hydro Cannon!" I ordered. Saur slammed his legs into the ground and it cracked open as several thorned vines exploded from the ground. Tor set his cannons on his back as a glowing blue orb appeared in each one. The vines were surrounded by a green glow before shooting towards Tor. At the same time, Tor released the water from his cannons.

Both attack met each other in a shower of mist.

"Tor! Ice Beam!" I commanded. An ice blue glow froze the air around us before sending another sonic boom across the battlefield. I shielded my eyes as dust flew everywhere. When it cleared, Tor was untouched while Saur was encased in ice with frozen vines around him.

"Earthquake." I told Saur. The ice shook and cracked several times before Saur emerged with a roar. He stood up on his hind legs and stomped his front legs into the ground, creating an earth shaking fissure towards Tor.

"Hydro Pump and launch yourself it the sky!" I directed Tor. He withdrew into his shell and used Hydro Pump. He flew up in the air as the Earthquake almost hit him.

"Solar Beam and while you're charging up, Petal Blizzard!" I gave the last order. Saur's flower tree created a green orb in the middle as it soaked up sunlight. As he did so, his petals ruffled and many smaller petals flew out. They sliced across Tor's shell as he was still withdrawn. When Saur was done charging, he aimed it towards Tor.

"Fire! Tor, Zen Headbutt and counter it!" I commanded both of them. Tor quickly brought his arms, legs, and head out and soared through the air with the top of his head glowing blue. Saur dug his feet in the ground as he released his Solar Beam. Both attacks collided with each, struggling to see which one is more powerful. Tor eventually pushed passed the Solar Beam and crashed into Saur, kicking up a cloud of dust. When it cleared, they were both unable to battle anymore.

"Great job you two." I smiled as I petted the both of them. I took out two Full Restores and sprayed my pokémon with them.

"Ven."

"Blast." they smiled under my touch. I returned them as Pika ran over with my bag.

"Alright class, I believe that's enough training for today." Satoshi announced. "Next class, we'll continue. I hope to see all of you work on your battling style next time." the bell rang. "You're dismissed."

"That was one heated battle." Dan walked up to me.

"Not really. I didn't use Char." I smirked as I placed my bag on. "I can't say the same for you. I did see you put out that fire on your blazer."

"Yeah, I guess I do need to find a way to make these fireproof." Dan held up his charred blazer in his hand.

"Good luck though." I said as I sent Char out. "I have to go, but I'll see you at the pep rally." I climbed on Char.

"I'll also be at the dance." he added.

"Then maybe we can dance together." I smiled. "Bye!" I waved as Char flew off. Pika clung onto my shoulder as we soared through the air. We reached the middle of the campus' courtyard where a stage was already set up. I spotted some figures already there. Char flew closer and landed next to the stage.

"You couldn't even wait for me?" I looked back and saw X land next to me.

"Sorry, but Blue will yell at me for being late even though I'm on time." I told him as I returned Char.

"Yes, but there's also Gold and Black." X pointed out as he returned his pokémon.

"So? Even though they're juniors, they can handle themselves." I countered as I walked towards the stage.

"Finally! Scarlett, you're here!" Blue exclaimed as she spotted me.

"Yes. I know." I rolled my eyes. "Unlike you, I didn't skip my class to get this stuff ready."

"I had a signed note of Professor Oak." she held up a piece of paper.

"Whatever." I sighed. "When are we going to start?" I asked.

"Everyone's here so we should get all of this set up soon." Blue said as Gold and Black landed.

"Blue, don't forget that special announcement." Gary walked up behind her.

"Right! Where is that paper?" Blue looked around. I left her and went to set up the mic. I have to speak first and introduce Blue.

The curtains on the stage were pulled as students began to file outside. I was standing in front of everyone in the council, who were standing in a straight line where everyone can see them, since I had to step up first. Once the curtains were pulled back, I could see that everyone at the academy were there.

Everything was silence as I stepped towards the mic in front of me. I stopped before it and opened my mouth to speak. "Welcome students and staff! First, I have to say, happy homecoming!" the crowd cheered as I said that. "The student council and I are so grateful to see this many of you are here to support our school and make this homecoming in the best yet! Now, I would like to hand over the mic to yours truly and our student council president, Blue." I stepped back in the line as Blue stepped up.

"Thank so much, Scarlett!" Blue exclaimed. "First, I would like to welcome the newest expansion to our school. Despite moving from all the way in Almia to here, we will welcome the Almia Ranger School to the Mastery for the Gifted Academy!" Blue gestured to a group of students standing to side in blue and green.

"This is all in my new plan to incorporate more skill sets and for students to explore more possibilities. These up and coming Rangers, Operators, Mechanics, and Scientists will be living and learning here alongside all of us. We have even built two new buildings to help these students find their paths; Building H, or the Capture Arena, is for those who wishes to protect pokémon as Rangers and Building I, or the Information Base, is where those to assist these rangers by learning how to keep track of them during missions. The other buildings will be open to these students as well to help them hone their skills." Blue explained. "Please treat these new students as you would any other students here."

The crowd cheered again as Blue caught her breath. Once they calmed down, Blue spoke again. "Now, let's enjoy this pep rally. We have several entertaining performances for all of you today!"

As Blue was announcing the different acts, I sneaked away to meet with the spokesperson with the Almian school. I jumped down from back stage where Professor Oak was waiting for me.

"Ah, Scarlett. Good timing." Professor Oak said. I followed him to where the Almian students were. We turned the corner where I saw an elderly woman with spiky buns with an elderly man in a lab coat and purple top hat next to her. They were both holding canes. A teenage boy with golden honey hair that spiked up a bit in the front while the rest just fell perfectly in place and clear green eyes were also with them. He was wearing what I assume to be their Almia uniform with a red tie.

"Professor Hastings." Professor Oak nodded to the man. "Chairperson Erma." he nodded to the woman.

"It's good to see you again, Oak." Erma nodded back to him. "And I assume this is the spokesperson?"

"Yes ma'am." I nodded.

"I see you teach your students to be respectful as well." Hastings noticed.

 _If only he knew the truth._ I mentally rolled my eyes. I spotted the blond boy staring at me. I'm finding it very creepy.

"And who is this young man?" Professor Oak asked.

"This is Vincent, my grandson and the spokesperson for the Almia School." Erma explained.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Vincent grabbed my hand and kissed it. I shared a looked with Pika who just looked as surprised as I was. "And your name, milady?

"Scarlett." I pulled my hand back as he let go of it.

"Scarlett. What a beautiful name." he flashed a flirtatious smile at me.

"Thank you. I think." I mumbled the last part.

"I hope we are able to make this switch go smoothly for everyone." Professor Oak said. "Scarlett, Vincent, both of you may go back to your friends and enjoy the pep rally."

"Thank you Professor." I bowed down to him.

"So, do you want to enjoy the pep rally with me?" Vincent was instantly at my side as the adults left. "I'm sure we can learn more about each other."

"I'm sorry, but as a member of the student council here, I have other things to do!" I slowly inched away from him before dashing around the corner.

I let out a sigh of relief once I was away from that creep. I noticed that everyone else was scattered, watching different performances and mock battles around campus and town.

 _Was it just me or is that guy weird?_ I asked Rio,

 _Nope. I got that feeling too. There's also the feeling where he's a flirt who always gets everything he wants. That includes you._ Rio replied.

 _Oh great._ I said sarcastically.

 _Yeah and he heard you too._ Rio added.

 _Heard me? How?_ I asked her.

 _He can use aura too._ Rio explained.

Great. Just great. A flirty playboy who can listen to anything I say. Just great.

I shook off the thought and walked towards town. The others are probably wandering around too so I headed towards the café.

I used my key to enter through the back door and locked it. The front door was already locked and we were closed today. I went to the front and settled behind the counter. Believe it or not, we have to do some actual lessons in homeroom. We're working on the history of the world and Satoshi gave us an entire section to read over homecoming weekend. I'm so looking forward to read about historians debating on how the world really got started. Cue the sarcasm.

I sat down on the stool and placed my bag on the floor. I fished out the ten pound textbook, flipped to the page, and began reading.

Okay, who am I kidding? I am so bored right now. Pika let Rio and Sol out so they were resting around the tables and chairs. I almost dozed off when I heard a knock on the door. I looked up from my book and saw someone trying to looking inside. I hopped down from the stool and went to see who is was. The shades over the windows and door were drawn so I used my fingers to move two aside from the door to see who it was. I saw X standing there.

I sighed and unlocked the front. I opened up the door to let X in. The bell chimed as I pulled the door open. "What do you want and how did you find me?" I glared at him.

"You didn't come back after meeting the Ranger's spokesperson and you always come here when you want to be alone." he answered.

"Am I that predictable?" I sighed as I opened the door so X can walk in.

"You have a usual schedule for anything. That's all I'm saying." X shrugged as he took a seat at one of the tables. I locked the door behind him.

"And what I'm saying is that you should keep your mouth shut." I went back behind the counter. I sat on the stool and just stared at the textbook in front of me.

"Is this really what you're doing until the dance?" X walked up to me. I looked up and saw his looking at me.

"I really don't have anything better to do." I shrugged as I went back to my studying.

I nearly fell out of my seat as X slammed my book as I was reading it. "There's a bunch of acts out there along with many facilities where you can do basically anything." X stated.

"Then I'm not feeling up to it." I grabbed the book from his hands. "I can't really afford to slack off."

"Why can't you? Your grades are all good, aren't they?" X asked.

"Yes, it's true that I have the one of the highest rankings in our year, but my eyes have been killing me, not to mention the headaches that came with it. I can't focus long with this pain. I may need glasses." I explained. "In fact, I'm going to get my eyes checked out." I stuffed my book in my bag and slung it over my shoulder.

"Want me to come with you?" X asked.

"Nah. It's probably going to be boring. You should go enjoy the rally." I smiled at him as I unlocked the front door and opened it. "Don't forget to lock up." I walked out, closing the door behind me.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

"I would like to count that as a success!" Blue exclaimed as the five of us walked inside our house.

"As your first school wide event, that was very good." Crystal noted.

"It's all because of you guys too! You all helped!" Blue exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I was surprised to not see Scarlett with us. She sort of disappeared after leaving the stage to meet with Almia spokesperson." White added.

"Maybe she just came back here to rest up." Whi-Two suggested. "She does seem tired lately."

"I'll go check." I offered. I walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. I walked up the door with her name on it. We decorated our doors when we moved in here. Her door had her name in bold red letters with a flame stencil below it. I knocked on it and heard some muffled sounds coming from inside.

"Hmm?" I heard Scarlett mumble through the door.

"Scarlett? You okay?" I asked her.

"I'm fine." she answered. "Just a bit tired." I heard her yawn.

"Well, the others just got back. The dance is only in a few hours and Blue wants all of the girls to meet up before we get ready." I told her.

"Okay. I'll be right down." Scarlett answered. I decided to leave her for now and walked back down. When I got to the ground floor, Crys was in the kitchen making sandwiches, while the others were sitting on the couches, watching TV.

"How's Scarlett?" White asked.

"She's up there. She was just tired." I answered as I sat down next to Whi-Two.

"She better be better soon. We have a dance to go to tonight." Blue huffed. "And tomorrow. And a festival on Sunday."

"Why did you even plan two dances?" Crystal asked.

"The one tomorrow is actually more of a social gathering." Blue explained. "It's just going to be music over the loudspeakers, decorations, and literally everyone meeting each other during the daytime outside in the town."

"Sounds like a good place for the Ranger kids to meet the other students." Whi-Two noted.

"That's true. I heard there are two joining your homeroom." I looked at Crystal and White.

"Wallace told us this morning. Their names are Ben and Summer." White explained.

"So it's going to be White, Silver, Gold, Lyra, Ebony, Quartz, Black, Mercury, Ben, Summer, and I. But there's also another girl; Winter." Crystal explained as she came over with two platefuls of sandwiches. "Winter's also another ranger student."

"Our homeroom is big enough with too much drama already to have any more kids in there." Blue huffed as she picked up a sandwich.

"Not much goes on in my homeroom." Whi-Two said. "It's just Lack-Two, Emerald, Max, Bonnie, ack-Ivory, Joey, another Joey, a third Joey, make that four Joeys, now five, no- six, on second thought, there's seven, and me."

"That's a lot of kids with the same name." I commented.

"They're from different regions so it makes it a bit easier. We just call them whatever region they're from Joey." Whi-Two shrugged.

The stairs creaked as Scarlett walked down. We all looked up at her and stared.

"What?" she asked us. "Why are you guys just staring at me?"

"Um, I see that you got-" Blue pointed to her face.

"Oh. I forgot to mention that I got glasses today." Scarlett took off her metal black frame glasses to show us. "My eyes have been killing me, I really can't see the other end of a battlefield or actually, the end of my half of a battlefield and along with these headaches, I decided to go get an eye exam. It turns out I did needed glasses and they were able to get them to me today."

"So do you need to wear them all the time?" Crystal asked.

"No. I'm nearsighted so I don't need them when I'm reading, but if I'm battling or need to see far away, I have to wear them." Scarlett explained as she placed them back on.

"Well I think you look good in them!" White exclaimed.

"Have you shown anyone else?" Whi-Two asked.

"No. You girls are the first to see them." Scarlett answered.

"Having glasses doesn't change a thing so we best get on with our dance plans!" Blue exclaimed. Scarlett sat down next to me as Blue cleared her throat. "Since some of us are part of the student council, we have to get there early to get everything ready. Since there will not be time to decorate, come back, change, and go back, we have to bring our dresses and things over there."

"Yellow, Whi-Two, are you two okay being here by yourself?" White asked us.

"We'll be fine. Just set up for the dance. We'll be there." Whi-Two nodded.

"Better we get ready than, ladies!" Blue pointed upwards before running upstairs. A loud crash followed afterwards. "I'm okay!"

"I'll make sure she's really okay." Scarlett stood up and walked upstairs. Crystal and White followed her.

"Um, Yellow-senpai?" Whi-Two asked me.

"Yes?" I answered her.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked me.

"You just did, but if you have another one, tell me." I nodded.

"Well, I told you about Curtis, right?" she asked.

"The boy who bumped into you and made you set off a stink bomb? Yes." I nodded.

"Well, I don't know why, but I feel really nervous when I'm around him." Whi-Two said.

"I know the feeling." I replied. "I don't know what it is, but I guess it will go away soon."

"I guess. Thanks Yellow." Whi-Two said as she went upstairs.

"No problem." I said as I called after her. I walked up to my room and shut the door. I leaned against the door and slid down. I sighed as I placed my head between my knees.

Why is it so hard to even be near Ash?

* * *

 **Blue's POV**

"Hang it lower!" I yelled up to Gold and Black.

"Why can't we just use psychic type pokémon?" Black asked.

"Because we can't and that banner needs to be put by hand! We need to put a good first impression for the ranger kids." I told them as I looked back at my clipboard. "Punch, check. Snacks, check. Banner, almost. DJ." I looked up at the DJ station to see Roxie up there. "Check. Decorations." I looked around and saw that the entire courtyard was covered with lights, balloons, streamers, and flowers. "Check. Security." I looked up towards the edge where Silver and Lack-Two were standing. "How's it going?"

Silver gave me a thumbs-up as his Weavile nearly slashed a fangirl sneaking up on him. Looks like we're good on out of control fangirls.

"Blue." I spotted Scarlett walking up to me. "Do I have to work the front table?"

"Yes. You're the Spokesperson so you have too." I nodded.

"But do I really have to work with that ranger kid?" she crossed her arms.

"Who? Vincent?" I asked. She nodded. "Why don't you want to work with him?"

"I don't know. He just gives me the creeps." she shrugged.

"Well suck it up. I could've had X do it, but he's busy greeting people as they enter through the doors, err- the entrance to the clearing. All you have to do is sit at a table and check people off as they enter." I told her. "You do have that list I gave you right?"

"All twenty-five pages." Scarlett held up a stack of paper.

"That should be enough. Now go." I pushed her towards the edge of the clearing. Okay so it's a courtyard and clearing. A bunch of trees surrounded the place where we're having the dance so it's very secluded and peaceful. Except for Silver, Lack-Two, Scarlett, X, and I, the other members are in charge of directing people here.

No matter what, I am making this the best damn dance this school has ever seen.

* * *

We set up changing tents for the girls to change in our dresses. Silver was keeping guard outside as we did. Serena, Dawn, may, and Lyra were already done and off to do their jobs.

When I finished, I walked out wearing a strapless royal blue dress, going to my mid-thighs, with white rhinestones sewn across the sweetheart neckline with a black bedazzled with white rhinestones sash around my waist. I wore matching black heels to top it off.

I saw Scarlett wearing a strapless dark red dress that was longer in the back than the front with black lace designs all over with black heels as she walked out her tent. White had on a simple flowing off the shoulder white dress and white heels. Crystal wore a spaghetti strap light cyan dress with a white sash and white heels.

"You girls look great!" I squealed when I saw them.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this thing over with." Scarlett walked passed us and towards the table at the entrance to the clearing. White and Crystal went on to the path leading to here while I waited at the beginning of the tunnel made of lights and trees leading to the clearing entrance.

I spotted the boys going to their posts wearing black dress pants, black dress shoes, and dress shirts the color of their favorite colors (see if you can guess them) with a black tie. Silver and Lack-Two stayed in the clearing to check the perimeter while X joined me at the tunnel entrance to greet people. Gary and the others went up the path.

I spotted students starting to trickle down the path as the lights lit up around us. Let the night begin.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Name?" I asked.

"Violet Yuri, Jade Tsuchi, and Opal Kaze."

I nearly slammed my head on the table. "Oh joy, it's the witch trio." I glared up at them after I checked off their names.

"At least we're not trying to get with any of the dexholders here with such a slutty look like that." Violet looked at me with disgust.

"Look at who's talking." I spat.

"Just because you think having that geekly chic look is cute, doesn't mean it is." Jade glared at me.

"Yes, because I have these glasses because I want to look at your ugly ass face even more. I would rather fall in Mt Chimney." I retorted.

"Argh!" Violet stomped her ridiculously high heel in the ground. "We're wasting our time here, girls!"

"If I see you even looking at X, you're dead meat." Jade snarled at me before storming in the clearing with the rest of her bitchy friends behind her.

I muttered some more swear words under my breath as I looked at the list of names. There are too many students in this stupid school. I'm serious; they'll accept anyone who turns in an application. I stopped when I felt a pair of eyes on me. Not like they were there for the past twenty minutes I've been sitting here.

 _I wish I have Rio here with me._

 _What? You don't like my company?_

Damn it! Okay, maybe I need to control what I'm thinking better.

"Vincent, I would really appreciate it if you didn't sit there like a creep and stare at me like a stalker." I told him. "And prying in my mind like that is not helping."

"You shouldn't have said it then." he said smoothly. "And a lovely lady like you is too lovely to use such harsh language like you just did."

Oh Arceus, just kill me now.

"Hello Scarlett-senpai!" I looked up to see Yellow and Whi-Two standing there. Yellow was in a pale yellow, almost white, dress with white heels while Whi-Two was in a white dress with it growing to orange near the bottom and white heels. They both had their hair out of their usual hair style, like Crystal and White.

White had her hair in a bun while Crystal tied hers in a ponytail behind her. Yellow's hair was out and flowing behind her. I knew her hair was long, but I never thought it would easily reach the ground! Whi-Two had her hair pinned up in a bun with a pair of orange and white chopsticks in the bun. A thick lock of her hair cascaded from the bun as well, touching the back of her knees.

"Finally, thank you for coming." I sighed as I crossed their names off. "I just had six total bitches walk through here."

"Let me guess, Violet, Jade, Opal, Ebony, Ivory, and Quartz?" Yellow looked at me.

"Yes." I sighed. I looked towards Whi-Two. "Whi, now I know that you, White, and Crystal have as much trouble as the rest of us are."

"You would think that she would back off after she found out Lack-Two is my cousin." she huffed. "Anyways, we'll see you soon!" they waved as they entered.

I took off my glasses to clean them and when I placed them back on, I heard yelling coming from the tunnel. I looked up and saw a boy with brown hair spiking upwards getting dragged by a girl whose hair spiked to both sides. Following than were two more girls and three other boys. The blond boy was sweatdropping as the blonde girl was yelling at the redheaded boy and brunet boy. The brunette was trying to calm her friend down, but she actually joined in on the yelling.

"Ah. I have met some of you friends, but now I would like to introduce you to mines." Vincent winked at me. I slowly inched my seat away from him. The large group of Almian students stopped bickering and looked at us.

"Hey! Vincent! Didn't know you had such a pretty girl working with you." the redhead flashed me a flirtatious smile. The brunette girl whose hair was slightly spiky and fell down to her shoulders whacked him upside the head.

"Please excuse him." the brunette who hit him said. "I'm Kate Kurai, my brother Kellyn Kurai, the redhead's Keith Dazzle, the blonde's Rhythmi Valentine, mushroom head is Isaac Iori, my cousin Ben Natsuya, and his date Summer Manami." she pointed to each of them as she said their names.

"Ranger kids, I'm guessing?" I said as I checked off their names.

"Not quite. Rhythmi's going for an Operator while Isaac is going to be a Scientist. The rest of us are going to be rangers though." Kellyn told me.

"Go ahead in. I'll meet with you guys later." Vincent said as he waved them in. They entered and I spotted another group walking towards us.

It was Lucas and Brendan, but they had younger kids with them. A girl with teal hair like Lucas' tied in long pigtails behind her head with it brushing her ankles was admiring the lights around her as the boy with a blue headband around a white hat like Brendan was beaming with excitement.

"Siblings, I presume?" I raised a brow as they walked up.

"This is Lucy, my little sister." Lucas gestured to the girl.

"And Brent, my little brother." Brendan gestured to the boy. "They're first years at Ranger School."

I checked their names off. "Going off the track from your big bros?" I asked the younger kids.

"Yeah. Being a trainer as awesome as big brother Lucas and cousin Brendan would be cool, but we want more adventure and excitement!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We applied for Almia Ranger School and got in! Big brother Brendan and cousin Lucas were so proud of us! They always support anything we do as long as we follow our hearts and dreams." Brent added.

"Seems like you're a good influence on them, unlike others." I smirked. "You can head in." they walked in and saw the other members of the student council walk down the tunnel. I stood up and straightened up the lists. It seems like most of the school came out. That's good for Blue.

"So, how many people turned out?" Blue asked.

"Most of the school, if not all. Including the Almian kids." I told her.

While Vincent was clearing up the table, I spotted X looking at me. "What's your deal?" I asked him.

"I just didn't think you would get your glasses today." he coughed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just get it over it. I have glasses; it's not that big of a deal. I can still battle fine and now the entire school knows. I'm surprised you didn't find out while we were setting up." I told him.

Before X could open his mouth to speak, Dawn, May, Serena, and Lyra pushed me in the clearing, excited to get the dance started.

When I got in, Roxie was already blasting music from her DJ station while kids were dancing all over. A few of the shyer kids were hanging out by the snack table. The ranger kids from before were also there but they quickly got pulled into dancing. I spotted Blue pull Gary into the crowd while Serena, Dawn, and May joined Lyra and pulled some of the boys on the council into dancing, including Silver, Brendan, and Lucas. Barry, Black, and Gold decided to have a dance battle which Crystal and White decided to go watch. So that left me with Vincent and X. Fun.

"Hey X!" Jade popped out of nowhere. "Come on! Let's dance!" she pulled him away. Okay scratch that. Now it's just-

"Seems like we're the only ones left." I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt Vincent right next to me. "Do you want to dance?"

"Um, well..." I tried to think up of an excuse. Of all the days, why now? I suddenly felt myself get pulled away and fell in someone's arms.

"Mind if I butt in?" I looked at to see Dan staring back at me.

"Thank Arceus." I sighed as he brought me up.

"Having a bit of trouble with your new friend?" Dan asked as he led me away and towards the snack table.

"I wouldn't say 'friend'." I sighed. "More of a stalking flirty playboy who annoys the hell out of me." I did a double take as I looked at my hands. Maybe my eyes are just getting adjusted to my new glasses. When I looked back at my hands, they were normal, not glowing a dark purple. Somehow, I have a sense of déjà vu.

"Something bothering you?" Dan asked as he sipped a cup of punch.

"Nothing." I answered.

"I like your glasses. Gives you that smart, but deadly look." Dan noted.

"I wouldn't be sure about deadly." I lied. Over the last year, I actually broke ten bones. All of them not mine. I almost sent Gold to the hospital while we were sparring.

"But you're smart, right?" Dan asked as he finished his cup of punch.

"I guess. Crystal's a lot smarter than me though." I shrugged.

"Crystal?" Dan asked.

"She's one of my juniors. A third year." I explained. "Yellow's smart too. She skipped a year. So did Whi-Two and Lack-Two."

"And they are?" Dan asked.

"Yellow's a fourth year, just like us." I told him. "Whi-Two and Lack-Two are cousins who are also some of my juniors. Second years."

"You know a lot of juniors, then." Dan said.

"I guess. It helps if your friend kind of forced you on the council as the Spokesperson." I glared at Blue who was trying to get Yellow and Ash to dance together. It was kind of funny to see them blushing as they stood awkwardly next to each other.

I still get a weird feeling when I get near Ash. Not like a romantic feeling, Yellow already got that one covered for him, but it was more of a homey feel. I don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me. I feel like I know him somehow, but I just can't remember when or where. His last name. It was my last name. I wonder if there's any relation, but that's a slim chance. After all, how am I supposed to know?

I shook the thought away as I scanned the crowd. The girls I mentioned earlier, Ebony and Quartz, along with these other girls, Mercury, Ursula, and Lisia have been giving the evil eye to my friends. White was laughing as Black stumbled over his feet. Crystal was looking annoyed as Gold tried to dance with her. Silver grunted as Lyra danced around him. Dawn and Lucas were awkwardly dancing together. Brendan and May looked like they were made to dance together, the way they moved in sync. I heard a snap as Lisia crushed her cup full of punch.

I sniffled a laugh as she stormed off with Ursula behind her to clean up her dress. Suddenly one of my favorite songs was playing.

"I love this song!" I exclaimed.

"Really? Want to dance then?" Dan asked.

"Sure!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor. More people crowded the dance floor as the song got started.

 ** _Baby, it's time to make up your mind_**

 ** _I think that tonight is when our stars align_**

 ** _Honey, it's now we leave the doubt behind_**

 ** _Take my hand cuz you and I are gonna shine_**

 _ **I was cold in the dark,**_

 _ **it was empty in my life**_

 _ **From the outside it looked so bright**_

 _ **but nothing felt right … to me**_

 _ **Like a sky with no sun,**_

 _ **like a night that has no day**_

 _ **My heart was eclipsed by the dark**_

 _ **then something changed**_

 _ **I saw a little ray of light come through**_

 _ **The tiniest of sparks came into view**_

 _ **and than you made me hope again**_

 _ **I've been watching you,**_

 _ **helping you wishing that you'd see**_

 _ **that the girl you've been waiting so long for could be me**_

 _ **Now I've never been in love**_

 _ **but I think this is it**_

 _ **It might seem like a school girl crush**_

 _ **but I have to admit**_

 _ **I wanna take a chance and make you see**_

 _ **I think that you're the one who'll rescue me this time**_

 _ **You're finally gonna see you should be mine**_

 _ **But baby, it's time to make up your mind**_

 _ **I think that tonight is when our stars align**_

 _ **Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind**_

 _ **Take my hand cuz you and I are gonna shine**_

 _ **I won't need any dreams,**_

 _ **it's all there if you're by my side**_

 _ **Every moment's enough**_

 _ **and you take me to paradise**_

 _ **When I needed a hero you knew it**_

 _ **and you were there**_

 _ **And I'm scared but I'll open my heart up**_

 _ **I'm ready to dare**_

 _ **I know I've never felt like this before**_

 _ **I never really knew what love was for**_

 _ **I dreamed but never did believe**_

 _ **But baby, it's time to make up your mind**_

 _ **I think that tonight is when our stars align**_

 _ **Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind**_

 _ **Take my hand cuz you and I are gonna**_

 _ **light the sky until it's dawn and**_

 _ **baby, you and I are gonna shine**_

When the song was finished, everyone cheered. I actually laughed along and hugged Dan. I quickly got off though. That was awesome! I never ever felt that alive before. I found it funny how everyone was able to do the exact same dance moves at the same time. At least no boys were in a dress. Don't ask. Blue wanted Silver in dress for the dance.

I saw that Dan was busy so I walked away from him as Roxie was getting ready with her band to play some live music.

I was so busy pushing through the crowd to get to Blue to tell her something when someone fell in my way.

"Ouch! Ben!" the girl from before, Summer, exclaimed as she rubbed her head. The boy with her, Ben, helped her up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked them.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm fine!" Summer smiled at me. "Scarlett, right? You worked with Vince."

"Yes, that's me." I nodded. "That looked like a hard fall."

"It wasn't bad. I've been training to face worse." Summer waved it off. "But if Ben didn't have such butterfingers, than I would be fine!"

"You insisted that I spin you!" Ben shouted.

"No I didn't! You just did it!" Summer shouted back. Suddenly a girl with white hair cut in a bob and ice blue eyes walked up to Ben. If my memory serves right, she's Winter.

"Benny, is that bitch Summer bothering you again?" Winter put on a pouty face as she grabbed Ben's arm. "Come on. Leave her and dance with me!" with that, she pulled Ben into the crowd.

"Oh that Winter! She's such a pain in the ass!" Summer exclaimed.

"I'm guessing you were a lot of trouble with her than?" I asked her.

"Yes." Summer nodded. "But I'm not the only one. Kate has been at odds with this other girl, Katrina, who has been going after Keith _and_ her brother Kellyn. Rhythmi has been trouble with a girl named Symphonique who is going gaga over Isaac." she explained. "They are so annoying!"

"Join the club." I laughed. "My friends and I have been having trouble with rivals of our own. Let me guess, the girls you mention has set up a fan club for the boys?"

"Oh my Arceus! It's like you read my mind!" Summer gasped.

"It seems to be the new trend this year." I joked. "Let's see what your other friends are up to. They might be chased away by those rabid fangirls already."

"I have a feeling that our group will have a lot in common with your group." Summer said as we walked past the dancers and towards the snack table. Dan was already gone, but I saw Kate and Rhythmi standing there.

"Summer? Where's Ben?" Kate asked when we walked up to them.

"Take a guess." Summer rolled her eyes.

"Us too." Rhythmi added. "Katrina even got Keith and Kellyn to both dance with her."

"I feel your pain. You all should meet my friends." I told them.

"SCAR~LETT!"

"And here's one of them now." I sighed. I turned around, surprised that people didn't notice that yell, and saw Lyra barreling people aside to get to me.

"Scarlett-senpai!" she exclaimed as she stopped in front of me.

"What is it, Lyra?" I asked her.

"There's gonna be a fight!" she exclaimed.

"What?! Between who?" I exclaimed.

"Violet challenged Blue after Blue refused to let Gary dance with Violet!" Lyra answered.

"Show me." I told her. She nodded. "Please tell me that idiot didn't do anything stupid yet." I muttered under my breath as I ran the best I could in my heels after Lyra.

She led me in front of Roxie's stage. A bunch of kids were circled around Blue and Violet who seemed to be glaring at each other. On Blue's side, Yellow, Crystal, White, and Whi-Two were standing behind her. On Violet's side, Jade, Opal, Ebony, Ivory, and Quartz were behind their equally as insane leader. I pushed passed some students and ended up behind Blue along with the other girls.

"What the hell is going on here?!" I whispered to Yellow.

"Just because we don't have our pokémon doesn't mean I can't still beat you in a fucking battle!" Violet hissed out.

"Does that answer your question?" White looked at me.

"Where the hell are Silver and Lack-Two?!" Crystal exclaimed.

"Mercury, Ursula, and Lisia are holding them off." Whi-Two explained. "Serena, Dawn, May, and just now Lyra are going to get them here."

"Vi, want us to help you?" Jade and Opal stepped up.

"Yel, we need to help Blue. She's going to get creamed out there." I grabbed her hand.

"Anything for our friend." she nodded. "We just have to make sure it's defensive and not offensive."

"Works for me." I said as we stepped out, standing side-by-side with Blue.

"Thank you." Blue mouthed towards us.

"How do you think this is going to end?" I asked her.

"In our favor of course." she smirked.

* * *

"That was a nice workout!" I stretched my arms over my head.

"You didn't have to make them go running crying like that." X said as he sat down next to me.

"Are you really taking their side right now?" I glared at him. "Besides, I didn't even touch her once. I was only blocking her hits and deflecting them. She caused herself to go running off crying."

"At least we got some time together." X said as he stared up at the night sky.

"Dance is almost over though." I pointed out as I looked up as well. The full moon was glowing brightly as stars dotted the pitch black sky around it.

"Roxie's about to play the last song. Want to spend it with me?" he offered me his hand after he stood up.

 _Beep!_

 __"Sorry." I told him as I took out my pokégear. I looked at it and saw that it was a message from Dad. "Arceus, what does he want?" I grumbled as I opened it.

 _From: Dad_

 _To: Ashley_

 _I know you told me not to talk to you until I become a real father, but this isn't technically talking. I really hate to tell you this, but it is really important. I wouldn't be texting you if it wasn't, believe me. And keep in mind that this is what I think is best for you. You're going to be married._

* * *

 **Please don't kill me!**

 **And the rangers have entered the picture! Yay!**

 **This is just part one of a three part mini arc. Yeah, a lot of mini arcs. I do that a lot.**

 **So I hoped you all enjoyed the chapter! And don't forget to review!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	28. Homecoming: Part Two

**Hey everyone! So I can update this week! But I will be busy. Just letting all of you know!**

 **I haven't been writing as much as I want to since I'm so busy and juggling about fifteen things once, but it's a good thing I write my chapters way before I post them, right?**

 **Anyways, nothing much to say this time. Let's just get to the reviews and then I'll do the disclaimer.**

 **Guest: Well, then you're going to love this chapter then.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I know! She's just so cute! And this chapter will enlighten everyone a little bit!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. Nor do I own the original works I mention or drop subtle hints to.**

 **One more thing! So when the song comes up:**

 _This is Scarlett singing,_

 **This is Mason singing,**

 ** _And this is both of them singing!_**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 **Scarlett's POV**

"DAD!"

"Now, Scarlett, listen." he jumped at the sound of me yelling.

"Listen to what? The fact that I'm going to be married off?!" I exclaimed. "That is not what you tell your daughter!"

"This is not my idea, trust me." he raised his hands up.

"Trust you? You want me to trust you after you couldn't even trust me?!" I shouted.

"I see your point, but this is bigger than you can even realize." he replied.

"Tell me than. What is so big that I have to be married even before I'm even eighteen?" I glared at him.

"We're broke." Dad said. I didn't expect that.

"What?" my face fell. "What do you mean?"

"My money has finally run out." he explained. "I hardly have enough to keep everything afloat for much longer."

"But what about the allowances? You always had that regularly." I told him.

"That's just the money I had in savings. I only have enough to keep the others in the dark until this school year ends. I don't even enough to run your café." he looked away.

"Dad, we can keep our business going by ourselves. We've been paying everything after since we gave you the money for those piloting lessons; the bills, the weekly deliveries, we can take care of ourselves for the café. We got that handled. You don't need to worry about that." I told him. "And we're paying it all with the money we make from it. And we still get a nice profit from it."

"Yet there are more expenses to take care of." Dad sighed.

"I'll help." I said. "I can give up my allowance, give up my share of the profits, I can even get an extra job or two to help out. I'll do anything."

"I can't make you do that." Dad told me.

"But I want to." I looked up at him. "I want to help my friends. And I'm a part of this family. I'm responsible the same as you are. How did this even happened?" I asked him. "What happened to the weekly checks from the Pokémon Association?"

"They stopped," Dad answered. "After I went up to Mt Silver, they stopped after I left contact with them for more than two years on top of that mountain. We've been living off of what I was able to save before then."

"And to think, we've been asking everything from you." I shook my head. "Dad, why didn't you tell us before? We could've helped you."

"I didn't want you kids to get worried." Dad sighed. "You still have a lot ahead of you that's too important to worry about this."

"Worried? Dad, I was worried about you when you first went on top of that mountain. I was worried that you'll never come back down alive." I felt tears well up. "I was worried I'll never see the only family I have left again." I wiped them away. "But if you're really worried this much, I-I'll do it. I'll get married."

"Are you sure?" he seemed surprised.

"Of course. It's to save the new family I have." I nodded. "Who would I be married to?"

"Usually, arranged marriages are set between the children of Champions or other important members in the Pokémon Association, given that they are around the same age." Dad explained.

"So you're saying that I would've been married off anyways?" a tick mark appeared on my head.

"Essentially yes, but I wasn't planning on that until you're about twenty-five and not have found someone yet." Dad said quickly. "But in this case, you do have a chance to reject any suitors you don't seem fit."

"Fine. Set up the first meeting. I can be ready tomorrow." I told him as I turned away, facing the darkness of the night. I can still see the lights from the dance in the middle of the forest. I was currently in the campus courtyard where no one, but Dad and I were. I started to walk away, but stopped. I turned around and rushed up to my dad, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. "I'm sorry. I wasn't being fair to you as a daughter. You were just trying to do your best, but I couldn't see that. I'm sorry. You're the best father ever. I love you."

He slowly placed his arms around me, as he returned the hug." I love you too, Aly." he whispered.

Like that, everything was right again in the universe.

* * *

The universe hates me.

Out of all the people in the whole entire world, the first guy who I have been set up in a marriage meeting with is this one.

"So, _you_ are the elusive daughter of the missing Kanto Champion." Vincent poured more sparkling cider in his glass.

"It appears as so." I pushed my glasses up. It was a nice sunny Saturday, the day where I was supposed to be helping the rest of the council maintaining the little get together Blue had planned today, but Dad was able to excuse me from it and now I'm stuck with _him._

A cool breeze brushed past my bare neck. I had my hair tied in a ponytail near the top of my head. I crossed my legs together under the table as the black heels I was forced to wear clicked the tile of the Information Base's rooftop. The breeze also penetrated the gray long sleeve blouse I wore along with a red skirt that reached my knees.

Other than the clothes I was wearing and the shoes I wore, I had a red gemstone pin shaped like a tiger lily flower with white shiny pieces of metal dotting the inside as pollen. I had it where I tied my hair up and angled it towards the side, but also had some of it facing front. I was forced to wear this outfit so I can 'make a good first impression'. Like that hasn't happened yet.

"I was surprised at first." Vincent said after he took a sip of his cider. "I never expected you to be his daughter."

"Yes, well, I had to change my looks up a bit for personal reasons." I explained. "Yet the thing I'm surprised at is that you haven't been promised yet."

"I would be, but unfortunately, there are no young ladies old enough for me to be promised to." he chuckled. "Until your father announced that you have agreed."

"I would've been married off anyways, if needed, but the reason I am doing it early is to help my father and my family." I sighed.

"That's such a bore. Thinking about your family. When we are married, you don't need to worry about them anymore. I can give you all the support you need." Vincent stared at me with hungry eyes. Eyes that I feel wandering below my face.

"Excuse you, but I have not agreed to you yet!" I exclaimed. "And even if I did, I would never leave my family behind. My father raised and took care of me, and even through all the things he put me through, I will still support him on my own."

"But you can't do that if you don't even have enough to support yourself." Vincent countered. "And I am the wealthiest bachelor out there for you to choose from. You have no other choice."

"I do have a choice." I stood up while knocking the chair I was sitting in backwards. "I am not a prize you believe you have won. I am a human being with my own feelings and my own opinions. And my opinion of you is that you are a sex-driven conceited bastard who doesn't give a fuck about the feelings of others or the way you repel females away from you." I glared at him before storming away. I yanked open the door and walked down the stairs as fast as I could in these stupid heels. I walked down all four sets of stairs before exiting outside.

As I walked, I called my dad up on my pokégear.

"Yes?" he answered.

"You are a horrible matchmaker. Please tell me you have someone else." I told him.

"So I see your first marriage meeting didn't go well." he said. "But I do believe there is one more guy you can judge- I mean, meet."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to do both." I huffed. "Just tell me."

"He just arrived this morning. He should be in the Lounge somewhere. I'll tell him to meet you on the roof top." Dad said.

"Fine with me." I sighed as I hung up. I looked towards the direction of the building and saw that it wasn't that far off from where I was. I must have been walking fast if I got this close. I walked into the building and started to head up to the roof.

I stopped when I walked passed Music Room #3. I pressed my ear against the door and heard the soft melody of a piano playing. I quietly opened the door and poked my head in. I saw a young man playing the baby grand in there. He looked around my age with wispy platinum blond hair and shining silver eyes. He wore a black jacket over a gray shirt with black jeans and black boots.

I stepped into the room and quietly closed the door as he continued to play. His hair was just brushing the tip of his ear as it spiked in a downwards direction. I spotted a Key Stone attached to a chain he had hanging around his waist. The song he was playing was soft and beautiful, certainly nothing you would expect from a guy who looked as hot as he does. Oh crap, did I say that?

He finished playing and I, out of instinct, clapped. He whipped his head around when he saw me. "Oh. I didn't realize you were standing there." he smiled sheepishly at me.

"It's no problem." I smiled back as I walked towards him. "That was very pretty though. I don't see you as a type of guy who would play the piano."

"My mom kind of forced me." he explained as he stood up. "My name's Mason Stone." he stuck his hand out.

"Ashley Ketchum, but while I'm here, call me Scarlett." I shook his hand.

"You must be Red's kid then." he retracted his hand after we shook.

"That would be me." I nodded. "And judging from your name, I'm guessing you're Steven's son?"

"And Cynthia's." Mason added.

"I knew they were married, but I never knew they had a kid." I was shocked.

"Yeah, they don't like to share it much." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But I am their son. And I think I can guess why you don't want people to know why you're Red's daughter."

"There are a lot of reasons, but he's still my father and I like him." I said. "But the reason I use Scarlett right now is because I'm sort of on a mission. It's complicated."

"I can see." Mason nodded. "But I can relate. My parents want me to do some tasks for them sometimes."

"My to-do list is a bit different though." I brushed my fingers on the piano keys. "Do you know any other songs?" I asked him.

"Tons, actually." Mason nodded. "But I don't usually perform in front of other people."

"Neither do I, but I still play." I sat down on the seat.

"You play the piano?" he sat down next to me. "I see you more of a violin or flute girl."

"I actually play them all." I shrugged. "It was a nice way to fill my time when I'm bored. My pokémon like to hear me play too."

"Wanna hear me play?" Mason raised a brow.

"Why else would I be seated next to you?" I replied. He laughed and his fingers drifted across the ivory keys. I saw him close his eyes as he started out on a nice melody. I was caught off guard when he started singing.

 **I remember what you wore on the first day**

 **You came into my life and I thought hey**

 **You know, this could be something**

 **'Cause everything you do and words you say**

 **You know that it all takes my breath away**

 **And now I'm left with nothing**

He had a really nice singing voice. It was a bit rough, but in a good way. It was also nice and smooth. I smiled and started to sing with him on the next part.

 ** _So maybe it's true that I can't live without you_**

 ** _And maybe two is better than one_**

 ** _But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_**

 ** _And you've already got me coming undone_**

 ** _And I'm thinking two is better than one_**

I saw him look at me unexpectedly, but I suddenly placed my hands on the keys and played along with him, singing the next line.

 _I remember every look upon your face_

 **The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste**

 **You make it hard for breathing**

Mason stole the last two lines from me, but I could tell from his devilish grin, he was challenging me, and I accept. I sang the next verse, but I heard him sign a little bit under me.

 _'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away_

 _I think of you and everything's okay_

 _I'm finally now believing_

 ** _Then maybe it's true that I can't live without you_**

 ** _Maybe two is better than one_**

 ** _But there's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_**

 ** _And you've already got me coming undone_**

 ** _And I'm thinking two is better than one_**

I stayed on the last note a bit longer than he did. I smirked at him while he sang the next part.

 **I remember what you wore on the first day**

 **You came into my life and I thought, hey (hey, hey)**

 ** _Maybe it's true that I can't live without you_**

 ** _Maybe two is better than one_**

 ** _There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_**

 ** _And you've already got me coming undone_**

 ** _And I'm thinking, ooh, I can't live without you_**

 ** _'Cause, baby, two is better than one_**

 ** _There's so much time to figure out the rest of my life_**

 ** _But I've figured out with all that's said and done_**

 ** _Two is better than one, two is better than one_**

I stayed on the last note as the song ended. Our hands drifting off the keys. I could tell from his smile, he enjoyed it as much as I did.

"I didn't know you could sing." Mason grinned at me.

"I don't sing much, but when I want to, I do." I replied. "And I didn't know the son of a stone specialist could have such a soft voice."

"My dad said I get my singing voice from my mom." he shrugged.

"That was fun though. I wish I could stuff like that more often." I said.

"You can't?" he asked.

"I have a lot on my plate right now." I sighed. "Running a business with my friends, my classes, and trying to avoid rabid fangirls. Don't ask about the last one."

"Hey, I can help you with the last one." Mason shrugged.

"How? You don't even go here, as far as I know." I looked at him.

"I just got transferred here. Starting Monday, I'm a student." he replied.

"Student or not, you'll probably not going to help me much. Those girls will probably go after you too when they find out you're Steven's and Cynthia's son." I pointed out.

"No they won't because I won't tell them." Mason smiled.

"Then who are you?" I raised a brow.

"Mason Steele." he gave me a goofy grin.

"I wouldn't say it's the worse cover name I have ever heard, but I guess it would work." I said. "Want to go to the roof? It'll be fun to see the little social tea party my friend set up from up there."

"Student council?" he asked.

"Spokesperson against my will." I joked. "But I still like it. Though there are some parts I still dislike."

"Tell me on the way up." Mason stood up. I did as well and we exited the music room. "What kind of stuff don't you like about it?"

"Hold on, my feet are killing me in these heels." I placed a hand on his shoulder as a support while I pulled the heels off using my other hand. "That feels so much better." I sighed as I had them in my hands. "What were you saying?"

"You certainly don't like getting dressed up." he commented.

"I have to when I'm forced to. My dad wanted me to look nice for my marriage meetings today." I replied as we walked up the stairs.

"Meetings?" Mason raised a brow.

"Yeah, I actually had one before you and I hated it so much." I huffed. "I was so glad when my dad told me that you were available."

"Let me guess, the last guy was Vincent?" he asked.

"Did I make it that obvious?" I looked at him.

"Not really. Most girls I meet for the meetings met him before me. Actually, just you since you're the only girl and I know that he's always the first choice for girls since he has his ranger ties." Mason explained.

"Then you should know how he is." I said.

"I do. We were actually friends once before he got all snobby because of his family's money." he explained.

"I actually had to avoid him a bit since the ranger school merged with this school yesterday." I replied. "And even when I first met him, I hated him."

"Is there anyone you do like?" Mason asked as he opened the door to the roof.

"I did say I have friends." I countered. "They're like my family and I will treat them as such. Though I will have some trouble supporting them."

"Why?" Mason asked as he pulled out a blanket hidden on the roof. Sometime the kids here like to hang out up here. We have blankets on all the roofs.

"The only reason I'm doing this marriage thing is so my family will have enough money to live off from. My dad lost his paycheck after he disappeared on Mt Silver. Ever since then, he has living off of whatever he saved up while also supporting twelve teenagers. When he told me, I agreed to an arranged marriage as well as doing my own part to help my friends." I explained as I sat down next to Mason. "Sorry if this bothers you at all. I know you might hate me because I'm just maybe marrying you for your family's money, but I have no other choice. I want to help my own family."

"Doesn't bother me at all." Mason said. I looked him surprised. "What? Do you really think I would care about that? Both of my parents are Champions while my dad is running one of the biggest companies in the world alongside my grandpa. We're loaded and we have nothing to do with it. My parents always donate about an entire year worth of both of their incomes to twenty different charities each month and they still make twice as much as that in the same month somehow. I agreed to an arranged marriage because I can never meet girls since my parents are so famous, they think 'they're not worthy'."

"You're awfully cool about being married off to a total stranger." I commented.

"Not a total stranger." he countered. "I get to meet them before we get married, but so far, you're the only girl and I like you already. I wouldn't mind being married with you."

"Maybe you're not so bad yourself." I smirked at him. He grinned back. I decided to lay down on my back with my legs closed and the back of my knees resting on the cool stone of the roof. I saw Mason lay down next to me with his hands locked behind his head.

"So, is there any reason why you're a blond and not a ravenette?" Mason asked me.

"What part of 'wanna get away' don't you understand?" I looked at him. "You should've seen the news. 'Youngest League Tournaments Winner, Ashley Ketchum, Missing!', 'Where is She Now? Our Famed Star'."

"I know all about that, but still." Mason rolled his eyes.

"New life, new look. My friends adopted that motto." I explained. "I got a new life with my dad and I got a new look to go with it. And unlike you, I didn't go yapping my mouth off about who my parents are."

"Touché." he smirked. "Now I know why people just don't go running around trying to find you. You're smart."

"And no matter what people say, I'm not a ditzy blonde." I joked. He laughed and I laughed. "Actually, no one knows that Red has kids. Except for the other Champions and Professors I guess."

"And those ranger people." Mason added.

"Them too." I said. I got up and walked over to the edge of the roof. I placed my elbows on the raised wall that separates the safe pavement from a four story drop to the grass. I looked over at the town where it was quite busy. Blue chose a great spot for the get together.

"This campus is big." Mason walked up next to me.

"It really is." I nodded. "And this school is something else."

* * *

 **White's POV**

"Have you seen Scarlett anywhere?" I asked Crystal.

"I haven't seen her since last night." she shook her head.

"Blue's going to kill her if she doesn't show up." I muttered.

"I think Blue said something about Satoshi giving her some kind of excuse." Crystal added.

"Let's just go. We're supposed to go to the café to show some ranger kids around." I said. She nodded and we walked from the park to where our business was. I spotted Whi-Two and Lack-Two talking to a boy with green hair and a pink haired girl respectively there.

We were almost at the tables set up outside when something crashed into Crystal.

"Ouch!"

"Ack!"

"Crys!" I shouted. I ran over to the mess of a table, chairs, Crystal, and a brunet. I grabbed Crystal's free hand, sticking out of the pile, and yanked her free. The result was the table and chairs crashing down on the brunet.

"Ow!"

"Hey Kellyn! Where are you?! Kate didn't send you flying this far, did she?" a redhead shouted as he walked down the street towards us with two brunettes, a boy with chocolate brown hair, a blond whose hair was cut like a mushroom, a blonde girl, two Pachirisu, two Pichu, and a Buizel.

"Oh please. Get real. I wouldn't kick him _that_ far." the girl, I presume is Kate, said.

"Yeah. She's saving that for you, Keith." the brunet said.

"You boys can keep bickering sometime else. I think I see Kellyn over there." the blonde girl pointed towards us.

"What happened?" Crystal asked as I supported her.

"I'm guessing one of those girls kicked whoever that was and he accidentally rammed into you." I explained as I pointed to the group of kids and the kid still stuck in the table and chairs.

"Uh? Can someone get me out of here? I think I broke my arm." a muffled voice came from the mess.

"Great job Kate. Now we probably have to pay for that!" the other brunette yelled at Kate.

"Still stuck here."

"Excuse me, but are you some of the ranger kids?" I asked them.

"Ranger, ranger, ranger, ranger, ranger." Kate pointed to herself, the redhead, the brunet, the brunette, and whoever was in the mess in front of our business. "Operator, and scientist." she than pointed to the blonde and the mushroom boy.

"That should answer your question." the redhead said. "Name's Keith."

"Kate."

"Ben."

"Summer."

"Rhythmi."

"Isaac." they introduced themselves.

"Hello. I'm Kellyn. You know, the boy still stuck in here! Someone get me out!" the guy still stuck yelled.

"Ben, Keith. Help him out." Rhythmi ordered them. "You too, Isaac." she pulled the blond boy away from walked away.

"We'll pay for the damages." Kate said.

"It's no need. Nothing's broken. Just... misplaced." I replied.

"Are you perhaps, Crystal Mizuiro and White Shiroi?" Kate asked.

"Yes we are. And we're supposed to show you guys around. Once you're all settled." I said as I spotted the boys yanking Kellyn out. "Black! Can you clean that up?" I yelled over to him as he walked passed. He saluted and went to right the chairs and tables. I sighed as I shook my head.

"Our friends are a bit chaotic." Summer explained.

"We can see." I said.

"But our friends are crazy too." Crystal added.

"True. Especially what we have to go through every day." I stated.

"If one more fangirl ambush me on my way to homeroom, I'm getting Xatee to teleport me to every class. Fuck the rules." Crystal said.

"Oh! You must be Scarlett's friends!" Summer exclaimed.

"Who?" Kate asked.

"You don't remember? She's that girl we met when we went to the dance. She was sitting next to Vincent." Rhythmi said.

"Exactly! That girl!" Summer exclaimed. "Arceus, I thought we were the only ones with the same problems."

"Their names?" I asked.

"Winter, Katrina, and Symphonique." Kate answered.

"Isn't Winter in our homeroom?" I asked.

"Yes, and Summer too." Crystal nodded.

"Ben too. But he's a bit-" Summer started.

"Inattentive." Kate finished.

"Sounds like another Gold than." Crystal sighed. "Whoopie."

 _Crash!_

"What the-?!" I turned around. I saw that the glass window of the café was smashed and shattered. "Black! What the hell happened?!"

"Sorry Prez." he popped his head from inside. "I kind of fell backwards pulling that kid out."

"You are going to pay for the window and the furniture you ruined!" I shouted at him. I can't handle any of this anymore! I have two bands, a play tomorrow, and our shared business to take care of! I have enough to deal with and I am not going to let anyone make it more stressful for me! "I don't want you paying me with your allowance. I want you go actually go find a job and work it off! And you can start with being my assistance for the rest of the year." I pulled him by the ear and dragged him off towards the theatre stage.

Arceus, this is going to be a long day.

* * *

 **Crystal's POV**

"Well, he's screwed." I commented as I watched White drag Black off. "And she left me alone."

"Hey, we're here!" Summer exclaimed. "We can keep you company while we show us around."

"Alright then." I sighed. The boys have joined the girls. "Let's start with the town, which we are in right now. It's very large and is considered a nice place for the students here to have some recreational time. There are several places where you can eat, battle, and just relax, including a park, a battle club, and several cafés like ours." I gestured to _Café d'Aventure_. "You can come in and order anything from our menu and we have a special on Wednesdays for one hour during classes and until six after classes. Unfortunately, we are closed on Mondays, weekends, and whenever there is a special event at school." Blue forced us to advertise our business to get more customers now that ranger kids are with us.

"Neat. We'll be sure to drop by sometimes." Kellyn noted.

"Do you have any pokémon that can fly?" I asked them.

"Not really. We only got our Partner Pokémon today and none of them can fly." Keith gestured to the pokémon with them.

"Then walking it is." I sighed. Good thing I always wear sneakers, even if they are pink and light blue. Arceus, why did I let my mom send me new outfits?

I led them out of town and towards the buildings on campus. I tuned out their conversations and tapped into my own thoughts. Ever since we got to the school, Blue insisted that we wear our back-up outfits since we met Ash and his friends in our usual ones. I couldn't disagree with her there.

Luckily, we were all prepared with various altercations to our outfits. Blue, for example, can wear the same black dress, but have a white jacket over it and different shoes. Silver has two sets, his grey version of his outfit and an outfit with a black, red lined, jacket, white pants and black boots. Gold had a blue athletic outfit while I had one of my own, just in red. X had an infinite wardrobe of combinations with the amount of clothes he brought for some reason. White had jeans to wear instead of her skirt while Black had a backup black shirt and jeans. Whi-Two and Lack-Two had those Ace Trainer-like outfits they wear in Unova. Yellow had that sundress she brought with Blue. As for Scarlett, she can wear anything she wants as long as it's red and black. She's stuck on those colors for some reason.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw that we were outside of the Lounge. I cleared my throat. "This building is Building G, but everyone here just calls it the Lounge. It's a place where students can go for their free hour. There are several wings on the different floors where they each have their own specialty. White is a part of the theatre department as the Director. We can all see her play tomorrow at the festival." I explained.

"What else is there?" Isaac asked.

"There are a few music rooms, the student council room, and a few more I didn't bother to remember." I answered.

"Are the rooms in the other buildings available for use?" Rhythmi asked.

"After school they are." I nodded. "We should head back to town so you can meet more of the student body." I walked them back to the town.

"Hey, I know this is kind of off topic, but what time do you have lunch?" Kellyn asked.

"Fifth hour. All of my friends has lunch fifth hour." I replied. "But it varies. Students will have a lunch hour either at fourth, fifth, or sixth."

The rest of the walk came in silence. We stopped in front of the Manaphy fountain where Blue was standing with Gary.

"Oh come on!" Blue complained. "Is it really that hard?"

"To me, yes." Gary replied.

"Blue? Why are you bothering Gary again?" I asked her.

"Mr Grumpy Pants here won't talk to the ranger kids." Blue replied.

"I don't see why I have to. We have a spokesperson that would do that for the entire school." Gary replied.

"Well she's not here right now, and look! There are a few students now! Talk to them!" Blue pushed him towards the group I was giving a tour to. Blue pushed them to the side, leaving her alone with me.

"By the way, do you know why Scarlett isn't here?" I asked her.

"I wish I knew." Blue sighed. "Satoshi gave some lame excuse about her really sick or something. She didn't seem that sick last night. In fact, the last time I saw her was after Violet and her friends ran away crying. Scar was sitting with X before she suddenly ran off."

"And you didn't have Silver or yourself check that out?" I asked her.

"I didn't have the time. I still have another day to take care of!" she exclaimed. "But now that you mentioned it,"

"I didn't mean that you should go do it." I sighed as I pulled on the collar of her white jacket she had over her black dress before she could go run off.

"Gold's right, you're always so serious." Blue pouted. "But I couldn't run in these shoes though. They're too cute!" she squealed at her black sandals.

"Well, Madame President, you still some ranger students to greet." I pointed out as I pointed to the crowd of students.

"You're right! We have a long day ahead of us." she sighed. A long day indeed.

* * *

 **I officially made one of my favorite shippings canon here! And they have a son!**

 **And shout out to whoever guesses the song! It's one of my favorites!**

 ***Le gasp* Oh Red! This is what you get for being up on a snowy mountain!**

 **More clothes and they're mostly based off of the ones in the game! Silver's are his HGSS beta outfit and outfit from the GSC chapter, Gold's and Crys' are the Pokeathlon outfits, X's should be obvious, and Whi's and Lack's too!**

 **Okay, I'm finished now. I hoped all of you enjoyed this chapter! And I posted a new cover picture for this story! I hope you all like that too!**

 **I guess that's it. So until next time, review!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	29. Homecoming: Part Three

**Hello my fellow readers and writers! Wow, it seems like a long time since I've updated, by it's only been two weeks! My life has sure taken over. So much to do and so little time!**

 **Anyways, let's make this short. First up, reviews, then the disclaimer and a little note after that, then to the chapter!**

 **Review time!**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Bingo! And the shout out goes to you! I seriously love this song, but you haven't recognized the other songs?! Here's a hint, one is another featuring Taylor Swift, another is from an episode of pokemon, and the one in the dance is from a personal favorite web series of mines, RWBY. Red is a guy who went off the grid for like two years in the games; should his planning really be surprising though? I made Mason with that thought in mind; the perfect boy who is also friend-zoned. Great idea for an epilogue; There is so much I can do especially if I make it into a one-shot.**

 **.18: That's great brainstorming for your story. And thanks! I haven't written anything in a while. I would guess not since Delia has official custody over Ash and Red has Ashley.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or the song in here. Or anything I will refer to.**

 **As I said, a little note!**

 _This is Yellow singing._

 **This is Scarlett singing.**

 _ **And this is both of them singing!**_

 **As said, keaton-furman-prower gets a shout out for guessing the right answer to the last chapter! Shout out to you! You're awesome!**

 **Now we can finally get to the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Okay, tell me, what's your worst fear?" I asked Mason as we walked through the stalls set up on the campus for the festival today.

"I have to say, water." he shrugged.

"Really?" I raised a brow. "Water? You're scared of just some water?"

"Don't laugh." he nudged me with his elbow, shoving me a little bit. "It's a perfectly rational fear. Just like heights or flying. What's your fear?"

"Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash. No question." I shook my head.

"Ouch, you just dissed my favorite evolutionary line." Mason placed his hands over his heart.

"I'm serious!" I shoved him a bit. "They scare me!"

"Tell me how than." Mason said.

"I nearly died when a Honedge evolved all the way to an Aegislash and wrapped its stupid ribbons around my arm." I explained. "I was traumatized for life."

"Still sad that a Trainer who won the leagues is afraid of three pokémon." Mason teased me.

"It's not funny!" I exclaimed.

"Sure it not." he rolled his eyes.

"Jerk." I shoved him.

"Scaredy-Skitty!" he shouted as he shoved me before running off. I regained my balance and chased after him. He ran past several stalls getting ready for the festival before he turned a corner. I did the same and came across a way that split four ways.

"Stupid jerk." I muttered as I looked around. I nearly had a heart attack when I felt something tackled right into me. I felt my glasses fly off my face as I was jerked forward.

"Surprise." I looked over my shoulder to see Mason with his arms around me, pinning my arms down.

"Get off of me!" I struggled in his grip. "I'm serious! Stop playing around!" I shoved him off. "Because of you, my glasses fell somewhere! Help me find them." I dropped down to all fours and felt around for them.

"Are you really that blind?" Mason asked as he stood above me.

"I can still see. Just not very good." I shrugged. I knew that I was very vulnerable in this position. I was wearing my black skirt with the red tank top and black jacket so anyone could just walk pass and lift up my skirt. My knees were protected from the dirt though; I wore black lace-up boots with black knee high socks that were poking out from the top of my boots. "Just get down here and help me find them! It's your fault for losing them in the first place!" I yelled at Mason.

"Fine." I heard him sigh. He dropped down to all fours and helped me search for them. "You know, I never thought you could be this bossy."

"I'm not bossy. I'm just under a lot of pressure here." I retorted. "I still have to support my family. Speaking of which, I need to start looking for a job."

"Let's hope that it pays well too, in case you need another pair of glasses." Mason said.

"They better not get broken because of you. They're brand new." I warned him.

"Found them." Mason alerted me. I tucked my legs under me as I sat on them. Mason held up something in his hands, I can't tell what they were, and moved them close to my face. Slowly, I was able to see clearly.

"Thanks." I adjusted them. Mason stood up and I accepted his hand to help me up. I dusted the dirt off my clothes and heard someone cough behind me. I turned around to see Blue, Yellow, Dawn, May, Serena, White, Crystal, Lyra, and Whi-Two standing there.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but I need to borrow her for a second." Blue stated as she grabbed my wrist.

"Hey, wait a-!" I exclaimed before Blue dragged me off somewhere. Once I was able to get on my own two feet, I saw that Blue dragged me to the outskirts of the festival with the others following her. "What's the big deal?" I glared at her.

"'What's the big deal?' I'll tell you what the big deal is! It's supposed to be you and X!" she exclaimed.

"Me and X for what?" I asked her.

"Together! A couple! Boyfriend and girlfriend!" Blue exclaimed. "It's one of my shippings!"

"Hold up, I never agreed that I would go out with X." I countered.

"But the both of you are meant to be!" Blue exclaimed.

"Blue, you might want to let her explain herself." Yellow tapped her on the arm.

"Fine, but you got two minutes." Blue huffed.

"Begin with explained why you were hanging out with that guy." Serena spoke up.

"Who? Mason? He's a new student. I was just showing him around a bit. Satoshi told me to during the dance Friday. That's why I left the dance that night. I was angry that I had to show a new kid around during the weekend when I have other stuff to do." I lied. Well, it's not a complete lie. I only left some stuff out. That doesn't count as lying, does it?

"By the way you two were interacting, you seemed to be just more than 'acquaintances'." Dawn pointed out.

"He likes to mess around a lot, but Mason's cool most of the time." I shrugged. "He's pretty new to the whole school thing and he needs someone to open up to. Trust me; I have no feelings for him." In truth, he was more of a friend who I can tell everything to. I mean, we're going to be married, so does it really matter? Wait, I only met him yesterday. Is that bad?

"I know that you're still hiding something, but we're too busy right now to pursue that." Blue sighed. "Just help Yellow, Dawn, and May with setting up the karaoke station for our homeroom."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes as the walked away with Yellow, Dawn, and May. "Geez, what's her deal?" I complained as soon as we were out of earshot.

"I believe she's thinking the same as you." Dawn spoke up. "You did skip out on us yesterday."

"With a perfectly good reason which I gave." I protested. "Is it my fault our homeroom teacher chose me to show a new kid around when I have a ton more stuff to do?"

"When you put it that way, I see your point." May nodded.

"Don't worry about much, Scarlett. Blue's been stressed out lately." Yellow smiled at me.

"I know, but she really didn't have to go into my private life." I sighed.

"But I can totally see you and X together!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Please don't start!" I exclaimed. "Or else I can go at any two of you next. I was already doing it for sweet little Yellow and Ash."

"Wait, what?!" Yellow exclaimed.

"Don't worry Yel, I was only kidding." I reassured her. "But I'm serious about these two."

"Don't blame us when you can't admit your feelings for X!" May teased.

"Like you and Brendan are any better." I shot back.

"I-I don't know what you mean!" May stuttered.

"Sorry May, but we actually do all feel that way." Dawn added.

"Don't think you're getting off that easy, Dawn. I seen the way you and Lucas have been getting along. Childhood friends, my ass." I smirked.

"Wow. You're good." Dawn blushed.

"When you're living with Blue, you can pick up a few pointers." I grinned.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

While the others were busy chatting to each other, I noticed that we were already back at the stall our homeroom set up.

"Girls, we're here already." I told them. They stopped chatting and looked ahead.

"Wow, it seems like all of you have been busy." Scarlett noted.

"No thanks to you." X said. "While you were off doing whatever, the rest of us have been busy getting this place ready."

"Well, excuse me if our homeroom teacher decided that he suddenly needed me to show a new kid around while he knows that I'm working my ass off with all of these other stuff." Scarlett retorted.

"Excuses, excuses." X crossed his arms.

"Why you-!"

"Come on, X. Don't bother with her. After all, she didn't bother dancing with you once Friday night, like I did." Jade came in out of nowhere, clinging to X's arm. She pulled him away quickly, but not without a glare at Scarlett.

"That bitch gets on my nerves!" Scarlett had a tick mark on her head.

"Don't worry Scarlett. She and X aren't as close as you and X." I reassured her, sweatdropping. Man, she can change from having fun to plain scary in a split second. "Let's go help Ash and Gary with the sound system." I suggested.

"Fine." she huffed. I led her away from the platform people were going to be standing on as they sign and towards the back with the karaoke machine and stereos. Ash and Gary were trying to hook up the sound. Actually, only Gary was. Ash was just checking out all the songs on the machine.

"About time you joined us."Gary commented as we walked towards them.

"Why are all of you people against me?! Satoshi forced me to skip one day. _One day!_ " Scarlett exclaimed.

"He's only kidding." Ash looked up from the screen on the machine. "I think."

"Of course I was kidding." Gary said. "But do you have an excuse at least?"

"Satoshi told her to show a new student around campus yesterday." I said quickly before Scarlett could explode.

"I see. Well make yourself useful today and help us with this." Gary said.

"You could've at least been nice about it." Scarlett huffed. "What do you want us to do?"

"I think the sound should be ready now, but to make sure, we need someone to test it out. This is where the both of you come in." Gary explained.

"Us?" I asked. Honestly, I know that Scarlett is a good singer and everyone keeps on saying I'm good too, but we only ever sang in front of our friends back at the house. We never really sang in front of people. Besides, my voice is very soft, I would be more suited for solo or back up. Not a duet.

"Why can't one of you do it?" Scarlett asked.

"I won't sing and if you ever heard this guy sing in the shower," Gary pointed towards Ash. "You'll run screaming."

"I'm not that bad." he protested.

"The people all the way from the Fire house came over to complain." Gary pointed out.

"If it's to save the reputation of our homeroom, then whatever." Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Let us see the song list."

She and I walked over to the machine. Ash moved away for the screen so we can take a look at the song list.

"What do you want to sing?" Scarlett asked me as she looked over the list.

"I don't know. Something short maybe? It is a test run after all." I suggested.

"Here's a bunch of theme songs from an anime." Scarlett pointed out. "Blue will love these."

"Oh! What about this one? 'Battle Cry- (Stand Up!)'." I pointed to it.

"Looks good." Scarlett tapped on it, setting it for duets. A loading screen showed up and we grabbed a mic each from the rack next to the machine. We walked back towards out front and walked up the platform.

The screens hanging from the metal stands in front of us lit up white as it loaded. The stereos hanging above us came alive with music as the song started. The screens formed words as they scrolled up, red for Scarlett and yellow for me. And it's orange for the both of us. Hey, that's actually a bit funny.

 _Sometimes it's hard to know,_

 _Which way you're supposed to go._

 **But deep inside, you know you're strong.**

 **If you follow your heart, you can't be wrong.**

 _Sometimes it's hard to see,_

 _Just what's your destiny._

 **But when you find the path that's true,**

 **You'll know that's the one for you.**

 **Stand up!**

 _(Stand up!)_

 ** _For what is right._**

 **Be brave!**

 _(Be brave!)_

 ** _Get ready to fight!_**

 **Hold on!**

 _(Hold on!)_

 ** _We're friends for life._**

 ** _And if we come, together as one,_**

 ** _Complete the quest, that we've begun,_**

 ** _We will win the battle!_**

 ** _Come on!_**

 **Woo-hoo!**

 **The time is now, the game's begun!**

 **Together we will fight as one!**

 _Each of us, in our own way,_

 _Can make this world a better place._

 **Stand up!**

 _(Stand up!)_

 ** _For what is right._**

 **Be brave!**

 _(Be brave!)_

 ** _Get ready to fight!_**

 **Hold on!**

 _(Hold on!)_

 ** _We're friends for life._**

 ** _And if we come together as one,_**

 ** _Complete the quest, that we've begun,_**

 ** _We will win the battle!_**

 ** _Come on!_**

 _Just when it seems that you are lost and all alone,_

 **You will find the courage and the strength to carry on.**

 _And if you fall along the way,_

 **Have the faith you'll be okay.**

 ** _'Cause your friends are there for you,_**

 ** _Reachin' out to pull you through._**

 **Stand up!**

 _(Stand up!)_

 ** _For what is right._**

 **Be brave!**

 _(Be brave!)_

 ** _Get ready to fight!_**

 **Hold on!**

 _(Hold on!)_

 ** _We're friends for life._**

 ** _And if we come together as one,_**

 ** _Complete the quest, that we've begun,_**

 ** _We will win the battle!_**

 ** _Come on!_**

"I'm guessing that a pass for the sound check." Scarlett smiled at me as the song ended.

"I never sang like that in front of people who aren't our foster siblings." I admitted.

"You were amazing!" Scarlett reassured me. "Come on. Let's get down before they want an encore." she walked down the platform and I followed her. We went back to where Ash and Gary were.

"Anything else you need us to do?" I asked as we returned the mics onto the rack.

"Just covering up some stuff." Gary said. "Yellow, you can help Ash adjust the mics. Scarlett, you're helping me."

"Oh joy." she rolled her eyes as she caught a roll of black duct tape Gary threw at her.

"How do you adjust the mics?" I asked Ash as I walked over to him.

"You don't." he winked at me. I felt my face get warmer. "He just wants me out of the way. It's not like he doesn't like you either. He's just worried that you would get hurt covering the exposed wires and sharp pieces of metal." I just stood next to Ash as we stood back near the mic rack. The air began to feel awkward, which was very uncomfortable for me.

"S-So, how was your weekend?" I asked him.

"It wasn't bad." he shrugged. "Opal didn't leave me alone the entire span of the dance on Friday. She gives me the creeps. Then on Saturday, I meant a ton of new friends. The ranger kids all seem nice. And you sounded great out there just now."

"T-thanks." I blushed. Why am I feeling this way? It's true that I like Ash, but I'm not sure if he feels the same way about me. I'm just a petite soft-spoken girl who just transferred this year. He's one of the most popular boys at school. He'll never go for someone like me. Not to mention dense. But I don't feel that way about him. They were Blue's words, not mines. But maybe she's right about that part.

"Shit!" I heard Scarlett hiss.

"Scarlett! What happened?!" I exclaimed as I rushed over to her.

"Stupid piece of metal." she complained as she held her wrist. I saw a line of blood coming from it. "It cut me while I was trying to cover it. Damn it!" she exclaimed as she cut her other wrist.

"Scarlett! Don't make it any worse for yourself!" I told her. "Let's go to the Nurse Joy's office. She can help you there. "I said. "I can heal you once we're out of sight." I whispered to her.

"Fine." she held both of her wrists up, careful not to get any blood on her clothes. She stood up and I escorted her far away from the festival. During the walk, I wrapped up her wrist with some bandages I had with me.

We were in the line of trees surrounding the campus. Once we were far away enough, we rested.

"This weekend is not a good one for me." Scarlett complained.

"We all have our bad days." I said as I placed my hands over her wrapped wrists. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I imagined her cuts on her wrists closing up, like it never even happened. I felt my energy drain away as I did. I removed my hands from her wrists and stumbled back a bit.

"Yellow!" Are you alright?" Scarlett asked me. "You really didn't have to do that. I would've been fine."

"No. I'm fine. Just a bit tired." I waved her off. "Take off the bandages. I want to see if the wounds healed properly. I helped Scarlett take off the bandages and saw her skin peeling. I gasped as I saw the patches of skin around her wrists just coming off.

"What the-?!" Scarlett was equally as surprised. She picked up a piece of skin and begins to peel it.

"Scarlett! No!" I warned her, but then I saw the marks on her left wrist. They were burn marks shaped like a flame, a leaf, and a drop of water. Just like what Gary and Blue had. "Are those-? Skin grafts?"

"Skin grafts? I don't remember ever having them." Scarlett said as she picked all of the peeling skin off. Her left wrists revealed the burn marks while her right wrist had a single burn mark shaped like a flame. I bit my lip when I saw that. Everyone will surely know now. Especially Ash.

"You sure? Maybe it's from that accident where you lost your memories." I said.

"Maybe." she said. "Let's just get back to the others. Blue's probably steaming since we're missing."

* * *

 **Whi-Two's POV**

"Where the hell are they?!" Blue yelled. We were backstage of the play White was about to direct.

"Blue! Shh!" White hushed her. "The play's about to start!"

"If they aren't here in ten seconds, I'm gonna-!"

"Sorry we're late!" Scarlett and Yellow jogged up stage in the back to us.

"What took you so long?" Crystal asked.

"Sorry. We got distracted." Scarlett said.

"Does it have to do with the bandages on your wrists?" I asked as I pointed to them.

"Sorta." Yellow answered. "Is there somewhere I can lie down for a bit? I'm getting sleepy."

"You're going to miss the play though." Emerald pointed out.

"Yeah. Prez worked hard to make this play perfect." Black added.

"Shouldn't you be passing out flyers?" White glared at him.

"Yes ma'am!" he saluted before walked back out to pass the flyers out.

"What's the play about?" Lack-Two asked.

"It's _Alice in Wonderland_." I told him.

"Who's playing the parts?" Silver asked.

"Here's the cast list." White passed a piece of paper to him. "Whi, Lack, can you two go out front and make sure that everything's okay out there? I'm worried that Black will mess up, again."

"Sure thing!" I nodded. Lack-Two and I walked out and scanned the crowd. A decent amount of students came out to watch the play. After all, it's one of the main attractions at the festival today.

"Hey look!" Lack-Two grabbed my wrist. He pointed towards two people waving at us. They were Curtis and Yancy. Although they're in a different homeroom as us, we still have some classes together.

"Come on, let's go talk to them." I pulled Lack-Two along as we push through the crowd to get to where they were sitting.

"You two are part of the stage crew?" Yancy asked us as we got nearer to them.

"Sorta. Our cousin's the director." I answered.

"Oh, you're White's cousins than?" Curtis asked.

"You know her?" Lack-Two asked.

"I may have some classes with her, but we don't talk much." he admitted.

"I can't wait to see the play!" I exclaimed. "I bet the actors for Alice and Alistair are going to be great! I heard White changed the script up a bit so there would be two characters falling down the rabbit hole."

"Twins, I'm guessing" Lack-Two asked.

"Seems like it." I nodded.

"Sorry, but we actually have to go somewhere." Yancy suddenly said.

"Yeah. We just wanted to talk to the both of you for a bit before we go. Bye!" Curtis waved as he and Yancy walked away.

"Don't you think that was a bit weird?" I asked Lack-Two.

"Of course it was. It seems like they're hiding something." he replied. "Hey look! It's Black!"

"Have you passed out all those flyers like White said?" I asked him.

"Yes I did! Now, I just have to do whatever she said for the rest of the year." he said, deflated.

"Your fault for crashing the windows and breaking almost all the tables and chairs." Lack-Two pointed out.

"Both of you, shh!" I hushed them. "The play is about to start." I pointed up to the stage where a spotlight was on.

The curtains opened to reveal White standing there. "Welcome all to the Theatre Club's first performance for the school year!" she exclaimed. "Now, may I present you all with _Alice in Wonderland."_ she bowed and the curtains closed again.

The spotlight turned off for a while before it turned back on. The curtains drew open again to reveal a boy and girl sitting under a tree. The boy had green hair which spiked up a bit and the girl had pink hair that was curled in a ponytail off to the side of her head.

"I heard White say that she got Christoph and Nancy to be in the play." Black nudged Lack-Two and me as he whispered to us.

"Christoph and Nancy?" Lack-Two asked.

"The famous entertainers with their own singing shows?" I asked.

"Same people." Black nodded.

Wow. I didn't expect that. I knew White knew a lot of famous people, heck, she had 4 Elites and 8 Leaders of the League as her clients, but Christoph and Nancy were solo superstars. I would never expect them to be at a school play, much less be in it. But White has many connections.

The play continued. Alice, the girl, and Alistair, the boy, fell down the rabbit hole, and thus began their adventure in Wonderland. I noticed that for most of the parts, they were plain compared to Christoph and Nancy. Some pokémon played the parts of the weirder aspects of the new world. They were able to talk because their trainers were doing the voices for them. To be honest, it was a really amusing play to watch. I enjoyed it and I'm sure everyone else enjoyed it as well.

When the curtains closed as Alice and Alistair woke back under the tree, everyone clapped. I clapped along with the rest, as did Lack-Two and Black. I heard cheers for everyone associated with the play. When the cast came out to take a bow, the audience cheered the loudest for Christoph and Nancy. When White came out, the audience even cheered for her.

"Wow!" I exclaimed once the clapping ended and everyone was leaving to check out the other stalls at the festival. "Wasn't that amazing?"

"White did do a good job." Lack-Two nodded. "Come on, we should go meet her." I nodded and we walked backstage. We talked with White and the others for a while before we split ways again.

"What should we do? The Joeys are taking care of the stall for our homeroom." I asked Lack-Two.

"We can enjoy the festival." he suggested. "There are plenty of stalls really for us to play. Let's have some fun!"

I took his advice and led us to a stall with a water gun game. We had to use a water gun, aim it at a Slowpoke's mouth, and fill up the balloon on top of its head. Lack-Two won the first game, but I won the second one. We each got a plushie as our prize. I got a Minccino while Lack-Two got a Zorua.

"Be careful that that's not a real one." I warned him as we walked away. "They are known to do that."

"They're also known to change their illusions into people. I think we're fine." he countered as we walked around some more. Eventually, we ended up near the ferris wheel set up by the teachers. We sat down on a bench near there to take a rest.

"Lack, what do you think of Yancy?" I asked him.

He choked on the soda he brought. I patted him to the back as he regained his breathing. "Are you trying to kill me?" he glared at me. "And why would you ask?"

"I was just wondering. After all, you two have been close." I teased him.

"Then what does that make you and Curtis? You guys have been close as well. Heck, you defended him after he made you blow up a stink bomb in your face." he retorted.

"I told you, he didn't do it on purpose! It was an accident!" I countered.

"Whatever you say." he rolled his eyes. "Curtis and Whi-Two, sitting in a tree..."

"Shut up!" I yelled at him. "I know that you feel the same way about Yancy."

"I do not!" he exclaimed.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Ha! See? I knew it!" I exclaimed.

"Hey! You tricked me!" Lack-Two complained.

"Your fault for falling for it. And you're supposed to be the more mature one." I smirked.

"And you're the one who was a wimp in a superhero costume." he retorted.

"That was just an act and you know it!" I yelled at him. "In fact, it was your idea!"

"You agreed to it." he shrugged.

"Argh! How are we even related?" I facepalmed.

"You really want to talk about that?" Lack-Two asked.

"Not really." I sighed. Family's always a touchy subject. We don't really talk about it, except when we're just talking about White, Lack-Two and I. I looked up and saw that it was nearly sundown. Wow, we spent a lot of time at the festival, and arguing.

"Hey guys!" I saw White and Black waving to us as they walked over. "What are you doing?"

"We were just arguing." Lack-Two answered. "Nothing out of the usual."

"Sun's nearly down. Want to ride the Ferris wheel with us?" Black asked.

"Sure." I smiled. I bet that White secretly wanted us along so it wouldn't be just her and Black. As much as I want to see my sister together with him, I also want to ride the Ferris wheel. Lack-Two and I stood up and walked over to the Ferris wheel entrance with White and Black.

There, Alder and Iris rounded us into a carriage and closed the door, waving at us as we rose high in the sky.

"Wow!" I gasped. "The view up here is so pretty!"

White sighed. "This reminds me of something that happened a long time ago."

"What is it?" Black asked.

"It's not important." White shook her head. "Times changed."

"Does it have to do with-?" Lack-Two started.

"Yes, it does." White nodded. "And it was a very bad idea to jump out of the carriage."

"You jumped out of a carriage?" Black asked.

"It was just a bad mistake." White waved it off. "My training in the Battle Subway helped me get my mind off of it."

"I thought you were always in the show business." I wondered.

"I still trained a bit. Black helped me." White explained. "It's too bad you two were recruited into the International Police while all that happened."

"And where was I when all that happened?" Black asked.

"Training I guess." White shrugged.

Eventually, the carriage we were in was lowered to the ground. We all got off and started to walk back to the houses. On the way, I spotted something sparkling on the ground in front of us. I guess Lack-Two saw something as well since we were both running over to it.

I picked it up and saw that it was a green Xtransceiver. Lack-Two picked up a pink Xtransceiver. Suddenly, both of them started to ring.

"Should we pick them up?" I asked Lack-Two.

"I guess." he shrugged as we pressed the answer button.

"Thank Arceus!" a male voice appeared on the other end of the green Xtransceiver. "Thank you for finding my Xtransceiver. I guess I dropped it somewhere. What's your name?"

"'Um, Whi-Two? "I answered. Nothing, but static, showed up on the screen so I was very confused.

"Whi-Two? That's a pretty name." the voice said. "Listen, I have to use an old version of a Xtransceiver so I can't see you. I'm usually busy, so I can't come to pick up my Xtransceiver. Can you hold onto it until I do? Keep it close and we can talk until then."

"Um, okay?" I said. "What's your name?"

"Oh, my name? I have a lot of nicknames, but you can call me Chris." he said.

"Okay Chris. Bye." I said. The call ended as Chris hung up with a returning 'Bye'.

"So, I'm guessing you also got the weirdest conversation as I did?" Lack-Two asked.

"His name's Chris. Yours?" I asked.

"Her name's Cia." he answered.

"Why did the both of you go running off?" White scolded us as she and Black caught up to us. "Where did you find those Xtransceivers?"

"We found them on the ground. Their owners lost them and we have to hold onto them until they can pick them up from us." I explained.

"Did you at least get their names?" Black asked.

"Of course." Lack-Two nodded.

"As long as you two are safe, then it's fine." White said. "Come on. It's getting dark."

As White led the way back to the houses, I looked down at the green Xtransceiver in my hand. What kind of person does this belong too? And why did his voice sound so familiar?

* * *

 **Okay, so a lot of things happened in this chapter. I assure you, there will be no romance between Scarlett and Mason. I swear. Completely platonic.**

 **And another couple is being set up! Make that two! I just love how the blush int eh games, but sadly, I've never played Black and White 2 so all I have to go on is the internet!**

 **Ooh! Is Ashley finally getting closer to the truth? Just wait and see!**

 **Another shout out goes to the person who guesses which season and movie the song comes from! If you guess one of them right then a half shout-out, I guess?**

 **I think that's it! And look out for a new update next week. I might be in a festive mood to update! And reviews will help me keep the chapters coming!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	30. Kotone

**Hello everyone! I'm alive!**

 **It felt like forever since I last updated and because of that I'm so sorry this is so late!**

 **But the good news is that I got most of my busy schoolwork done and I can focus more on writing. Which I haven't done is a long while.**

 **Let's get to the reviews!**

 **thor94: Thanks! And I'm not trying to make her seem that way. It does look like it now, but not later. Everything will be revealed in time.**

 **andrew,medley.18: You got it right! Hooray! And This is a mixture of all three verses so I add elements form each of them, but it won't affect the over plot at all. I'm focused more on the manga gang, but there will be moment where anime gang will be spotlighted.**

 **Guest: If you haven't noticed, I always put disclaimers before every one of my chapters and I stress about it each time. I've read several fics where song lyrics pop up so my story shouldn't be any different.**

 **keaton-furton-prower: Your reviews always make me smile and I love reading them! Thanks! And that would a really good idea for a crack, but I should focus on this. I'll keep it in mind though.**

 **And the shout-out from the last chapter goes to .18 who correctly guessed the season and movie! Congrats!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or Maximum Ride. Or anything I refer to. Just the wacky ideas that appear in my brain.**

 **And just as a warning, there are minor spoilers for the Maximum Ride series if there are any fans reading this. If you haven't read the last book and don't want spoilers, skip the part right after Max tells Scarlett her name and go straight to Gold's POV.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty

 **Silver's POV**

Why the hell did I even agree to do this? I have better things to do. Honestly, I didn't even want to be a part of this at all. But of course, I got dragged in somehow.

"Hey Silvy!" Lyra popped up next to me. "What are you doing?"  
"None of your business." I grunted as I closed my laptop. Arceus, she is so annoying. Everywhere I go, she's there. And I mean _right_ there.

"Doesn't look like nothing." she attempted to open my laptop, but I prevented her.

"Shouldn't you be bothering someone else right now?" I asked her.

"I would, but Crys is busy. She said that she has studying to do. Gold is hanging out with Ben. White's making Black do something. I don't even care about Winter, Ebony, Quartz, or that despicable Mercury. As for Summer, I don't know. I think she's getting a bite to eat." she answered.

"Go find her than. I have better stuff to do." I told her as I opened up my laptop again.

"You're no fun!" she pouted.

"Tell me something I don't know." I replied. I heard her huff as she stomped away. She is so childish sometimes; I wonder how anyone can endure her. Now that I think about it, I endure her somehow. Probably because I dealt with Gold for years.

Now I can get back to what I was working on before. Nee-san has been unloading all this research on me. She wants me to research these two guys, Dan Kuso and Mason Steele. I don't know the hell why. We looked up Dan before, but there wasn't much. Even though she's the president, Nee-san shouldn't be looking into the life of new students either.

Getting tired of staring at the mainly white screen of Dan Kuso's school record, I decided to do a new one. I went up to the search box and typed in 'Lyra Kotone'. Her last name has been bothering me ever since I met her. It was the same as Crystal's real name. Not to mention the uncanny resemblance between the two. I have a feeling their histories are intertwined somehow.

When Lyra's page popped up, the first thing I saw was her school picture. Without her annoying attitude, she looked exactly like Crystal, minus some minor details, before she changed her hair color and her eye color to both blue. I snapped out of it and scrolled down, her life before the school started to unravel. She was adopted by a couple in New Bark Town when she was two years old. She never met her parents and there wasn't that much information on them.

She grew up as an aide to Professor Elm before she left to tour the regions when she was ten in order to inform regions about Johto during her journey. Due to that, she never really got to explore the rest of New Bark Town herself until she was thirteen. After she got all of her badges, she won the Pokémon League there and won all the medals for the Pokeathlon. For these reasons, she got into this school.

I leaned back in my seat, processing this new information. Crystal got to New Bark Town when she was eleven. Then, after her help with the Professors and capturing every species of pokémon, she found Red and changed herself when she was twelve. That would've given the both of them enough time to never even meet each other.

I went from her background to her personal information. Lyra was born on the same day as Crystal was, April 30th. They have the same blood type, same hair color, same eye color, even the same last name. This was very suspicious. I saw that Lyra's parents weren't unknown, just hidden. The school had the adoption records, but they were encrypted. I hacked into the adoption records and saw her birthmother. It was Crystal's mother.

 _Ring!_

I nearly jumped out of my seat. I grabbed my pokégear and saw that Nee-san was calling. "Nee-san," I picked it up.

"Did you find out anything?" she asked.

"I kind of got bored with the guys so I did a search of my own." I told her. "And it seems like we got another mystery on our hands."

"Who is it this time?" Nee-san asked.

"Lyra." I replied.

"I'm guessing it's about Crystal then." I heard her sigh. "Meet me at the park in town. I'll make sure the others will be there." she hung up.

I closed my pokégear and my laptop. It was a Thursday. School was over. That meant that it was the Unova gang's turn to work the café. As for the rest of us, we were free. I packed up my stuff from the table I saw sitting at and started to walk towards town. The campus had a little courtyard which was a nice place to do some studying or just anything.

The weather has been getting colder. Homecoming felt like a year ago, even though it's only been a month. The sun still warmed us, but a chilly wind breeze blew passed from time to time. Just an average early October day.

I made it to the town in one piece. It seemed too quiet somehow. There weren't the usual fangirls chasing the boys and I around. Something's not right.

"Silver!"

I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Nee-san waving at me from the park entrance. I walked up to her and she led me to a meeting spot. Everyone, but the Unova gang, Crystal, Gold, and Scarlett were there.

"Where's Scarlett?" Yellow asked.

"I couldn't find her." Nee-san shrugged. "She hasn't been around much since homecoming."

"Does it really take a month to show a new student around?" X rolled his eyes.

"Just because she isn't here, doesn't mean you still have to flirt with her." Emerald said. "Why are we even here?"

"I can tell you why." I said as I opened up my laptop. "It seems like Scarlett isn't the only one with a family mystery. May I present Lyra and Kristee Kotone."

"I knew it!" Nee-san exclaimed. "They looked too similar to not be related."

"Not just related. Twins." I corrected her.

"But how?" Yellow gasped.

"Lyra was adopted. I hacked into their records and saw that her birth mother is Crystal's mother. For some reason, she gave Lyra up while she kept Crystal." I explained. "Everything here adds up. Same real last name, blood type, and hometown. Their timeline coincidentally matched up so they have never, ever met each other."

"So we can honestly, certainly, say that they are long lost twins?" X asked.

"One way to find out!" Nee-san winked as she dialed on her pokégear. Everyone crowded around her. "You have your own pokégear! Use them!" she pushed us back.

We did as she said and listened as the other line continued to ring. Finally, someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Mrs Kotone? Hi, it's me, Blue." Nee-san said.

"Oh! Blue! Hello there sweetie. Is there another Family Day visit coming up? If so, I'm sorry, but I can't make it." Crystal's mom said.

"No! It's not that!" Nee-san said. "I just wanted to talk to you about Crystal and, "she paused. "Lyra."

The line went silent. "Oh. You found out?" Mrs Kotone finally spoke.

"It wasn't all that hard." Nee-san shrugged. "Do you want to explain it to me?"

I heard Mrs Kotone sigh. "It wasn't my fault. When they were allowed to go home from the hospital, I left them inside their nursery for just a second. When I turned back around after getting their diaper bag, Lyra was gone from her crib and the window was open. Later, I found out it was my ex-husband, Kristee's and Lyra's father, who kidnapped Lyra. By the time I was able to locate her, it was too late. That bastard placed her up for adoption and she was adopted. It felt wrong to separate her from her new family, so I left it alone. I never told Kristee about Lyra because one will know, while the other wouldn't. It felt wrong." her voice cracked as she started to cry.

"Mrs Kotone, don't cry. It's okay." Nee-san comforted her.

"No it's not!" she exclaimed. "I let my beautiful baby girl get kidnapped by that son of a bitch she had as a father!"

"Mrs Kotone, how did he get your signature for the adoption papers?" Nee-san asked.

"He was also good at mimicking other people. He saw my signature and was able to copy it perfectly." she spat. "You won't tell them? Will you? Please don't."

"I won't tell them. Neither will my friends. We'll leave that up to you." Nee-san promised.

"Thank you. You are truly a good group of friends for my two little girls." Mrs Kotone said before hanging up.

"Well, that's one family mystery done. We just have another one." X commented.

"I'll tell the Unova gang and Gold about Crystal and Lyra later." I said as I packed up my stuff.

"And where do you think you're going, mister?" Nee-san asked me.

"Somewhere where people won't bother me." I replied.

"You're not done yet! Tell us about what you found out about Dan." Nee-san said.

"Not much different than last time. Nothing new on his background." I told her.

"And Mason?" she asked.

"17. Born in Celestia Town, but raised in Mossdeep City. Parents are Ace Trainers who travel a lot. As for Mason himself, won multiple Pokémon Leagues in Sinnoh and Hoenn before applying here. Seems to be out of nowhere though. He was doing fine living in the Resort Area in his own private villa in Sinnoh." I explained.

"Then why the hell would he come to this crappy place if he had that much talent at home?!" Emerald exclaimed.

"Why are we here then?" X replied. "He was probably made to go here."

"I'm leaving. I'm sure that you got all the information you need." I walked away from them. This school and its students have pasts that are even lesser known than how the world got created.

* * *

 **Black's POV**

"And don't come back here until you found a real job!" White screamed as she kicked me out the back door.

"Aw, come on! I only broke five plates!" I groaned as I landed in a pile of empty crates.

"Which I have to pay for now!" she replied. "Go get a job so you can pay for the window, the dishes, _and_ the oven you broke!" she slammed the door in my face.

"Can't believe she actually did that." I muttered as I stood up. I brushed off the dirt from my clothes and walked out to the main street. I walked down the street, looking for any help wanted signs.

I walked passed a bookstore and saw a red sign with the words, 'HELP WANTED' on it. I immediately rushed in. A bell chimed as I opened the door. Cheren, a teacher at the school and a guy I knew before, was behind the counter, reading a book. Hopefully, he doesn't recognize me.

"Can I help you?" he looked up from his book.

"I saw that there was a 'Help Wanted' sign in your window and I was looking for a job." I told him.

"Oh. I forgot to take that sign down. "I'm sorry, but I just filled the position not too long ago."

"So no job?" I asked him.

"No job." he shook his head.

I hung my head low as I walked back out. "Where the hell can I find a job?" my eyes wandered to an open door café, but upon further inspection, it was filled with those fangirls and the staff was in pokémon maid costumes. A cosplay maid café. No way am I getting near that.

I turned the other way and saw the old café the other boys and I worked at last year. "It's better than nothing." I sighed as I started to walked towards it. The door was wide open so I walked right in. Last year, it was packed, but this year, it was deserted.

"Uh? Is there anyone alive in here?" I asked as I stepped in. The entire floor was deserted. The counter had no one there, the tables were cleared of anything, and even the chairs were knocked down at some of them.

"Ouch! Hmm?" I looked back at the counter were a guy with dusty brown hair was getting up from behind. "Black! Buddy! Thank Arceus!" his eyes widen when he saw me.

"Hey there Martin." I greeted him. "Uh, what happened here?"

"Well, after all those girls found out you and the boys didn't work here anymore, they stopped coming here. Even the guys. Turns out, they were only here to try and pick up the girls." he explained as he stood up. "What are you doing here now? I thought you were given an allowance by your foster dad this year."

"I did, but I kind of broke some things at my foster family's café and now I have to pay for them with money I make on my own." I explained sheepishly.

"Oh yeah. Your new place. What's it called? Something Kalosian, I know that for sure." he scratched his head.

" _Café d'Aventure."_ I told him.

"Oh right." Martin nodded. "Man, your place is taking up most of the other business since you and the other guys are working there. At this pace, I'm going to be broke and my father will have my skin if I ever go into bankrupt!"

"It doesn't sound too glamorous being a Rich Boy." I chuckled.

"Believe me, it's not." he laughed. "But I heard you have some new staff members at your place too. Some new girls?"

"Yeah, they're our foster sisters. In fact, one of them was the one who made me get a job." I told him.

"Was it that brunette chick who always have her hair in a ponytail? She does seem like the type." Martin commented.

"Her name's White, but I agree with you." I nodded.

"You're lucky though man. I wish I had a girl like her." he chuckled.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing. So, what brings you here to this deserted wasteland?" he asked.

"Can I have my old job back? As I said, I need a job." I told him.

"Sure. Catch!" he threw an apron at me. "I'm sure you know how things work here." he winked. I smiled at him and put on the apron. Time to get back to work.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

Am I really this desperate?

"Konichiwa~! Welcome to _Kawaii Kokoro Kafé,_ mistress!" a girl in a pink maid outfit with little pink ears like a Jigglypuff on her head bowed down to me. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, I need to talk to your manager." I sweatdropped at her.

"Hai! Follow me!" she led me towards the back of the place. The café was somewhat busy so it was easy to get through. We ended up in the kitchen.

The Jigglypuff girl opened the door up for me and I stepped in the kitchen. "Senpai!" she called out. And the girl who walked out was someone who I was not expecting. Well, maybe a little.

"What the hell is it now?" Violet asked her. She was wearing a purple maid outfit with Espeon ears and an Espeon tail. Of all the places, why here? And why her?

"This girl here wants to talk to you!" the Jigglypuff girl exclaimed.

"Oh. You." Violet narrowed her eyes at me. "Rose, leave us."

"Hai, senpai!" Rose exclaimed. Her pink hair bounced behind her as she skipped out of the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing here? If that bitch Blue put you up to this-!"

"I'm not here to fight!" I told her. "I just want a job."

"Why? Isn't your own place making enough money?" she asked coldly.

"My circumstances are different. I need to make some extra money." I explained.

"And why would I trust you?" Violet asked.

"Why the hell would I be here, talking to you, in this place, if I'm not desperate? I really need a job." I told her.

"Fine, but if you step one foot out of line, I'll make sure your life here will be a nightmare." she glared at me.

"I'm sure that it wouldn't be any worse than it is now." I glared back.

"Follow me." she turned around. I followed her to a room next to the kitchen. It seems to be a changing room for the employees here. "Here," she handed me a stack of clothes she grabbed from a locker.

I looked at them and saw that it was a black maid outfit with Pikachu ears and a lightning-shaped tail that had a notch at the end. I am seriously starting to regret this.

"The only shifts we have available right now are Wednesdays and Thursdays right after school until 7. You have to be here and changed in your uniform by 3:30 pm. Here, I'll give everyone the run-down for the day and you will be on the floor until 7. You have to wear the uniform at all times here and here we have a theme." she explained.

"Like I haven't noticed." I rolled my eyes.

"As a maid café, we address everyone as 'master' or 'mistress'. We also try to act as kawaii as possible while doing it. But for seniors like you and me, I don't force them to act so kawaii as the juniors. Don't think I'm excusing you from acting like that as an act of friendship, the other girls will complain to me about it. Other than that, our work lives and school lives will be separated. If you find that I am treating you differently here than in school, don't get too comfortable with it. I will still treat as the same trash you are while classes are in session. Here, I might treat you with respect." Violet said. "We also spice up our speech with those phases you heard Rose say. But that's more for the kawaii image. You can if you want to."

"Okay. Anything else?" I asked her.

"You will address me as 'senpai' every time you talk to me." she said. "You will be paid at the end of each day like the other girls when they're splitting up the tips with a base of 2500 PKD. And you're starting your shift right now."

"Fine." I sighed. Violet nodded and walked out of the room. I was left by my own. I stared at the clothes in my arms. Maybe it won't be that bad.

* * *

I take it back. This is bad. I stared at myself in the mirror they had it the changing room. The maid dress reached down to my mid-thighs. A white apron that tied around my neck and around my waist covered my front chest, down to the skirt and ended just a bit above the black dress did. I couldn't see right next to me due to the puffy black short sleeves.

The Pikachu ears were on a headband that was easily covered by my hair. They seemed like they spouted from the side of my head, more to the top, and stuck behind, like real Pikachu ears would. On the other end, the Pikachu tail was connected by a belt which I clipped over the black dress and under the white apron. It stuck out right behind me by two feet. Luckily, it stuck more up than straight out.

 _Knock!_

"Hello?" a different pinkette girl walked in as she opened the door carefully. She wore a pale pink dress with Skitty ears and a Skitty tail. "Violet told me to tell the new girl where everything is."

"Yancy, right?" I asked her. She nodded. "Don't worry about that! I already memorized everything in here. I think I know my way around." I told her. She nodded and walked out. I followed her and grabbed a notepad. I placed it in my apron and walked out on the floor. It wasn't as busy as I was used to, but it was actually a nice change from it.

I stood by the door, ready for more customers.

"And here I thought, Violet was lying."

Why wasn't I prepared? I knew that she would no doubt be working here.

"Jade." I looked at her. "Here, we are coworkers. We are not enemies. I am not here to outshine you or take X's attention. Can we please act civilized?"

"Try not to make a fool of yourself. We are on the clock." Opal told her. Jade was wearing a light green maid outfit with Leafeon ears and tail. Opal had on a black maid outfit, like mines, but she had Umbreon ears and tail. Here, all of the aprons to the maid outfits were white, only the dress colors were different.

"Fine." Jade huffed. "But you better not try anything." she turned to a customer entering.

"Don't let her get to you." another girl nudged me. She had pale blonde hair and brown eyes. Her maid dress was a cream color and while she didn't have any ears or tail, she had a pair of Pidgeot wings on her back. "Name's Max."

"Short for Maxine?" I asked.

"Nope. Short for Maximum. Maximum Ride. Weird name, I know, but my family's weird people." she grinned. I blinked once, twice, three times. Either I'm watching too many Maximum Ride movies, or she is actually real. She really looked like the Maximum Ride from the manga, books, and movies. Maybe I'm running a high fever?

"So, how did a girl like you get to work in a place like this?" I asked her once the shock washed away.

"Oh, me? I had to support my family. See, I'm a part of a foster family. Our foster dad turned out to be a bust and now, it's my turn to raise my five foster siblings and a Zorua that we have as a pet." Max explained. "Actually, I only really have to take care of two of them. Fang, my foster brother and boyfriend, don't ask, can take care of himself even if he's such a loner. Iggy's blind, but he can cook so he's good there. Nudge is still a bit young, but she got the home chores down. Only the Gasman and Angel need my help. They're younger than the rest of us."

Did I eat something bad this morning? Or am I dreaming? Hey! If I'm dreaming, than I really didn't take this stupid job! Oh who am I kidding? I'm not dreaming. I'm just stuck in an everlasting nightmare.

"S-so, what years are they?" I asked her.

"Ages are hard with us, but I'm a high school fourth year as well as Fang and Iggy. Nudge is a first year here while Gazzy is a third year at the junior high on the other side of the island. Angel is a first year at the junior high as well." Max explained. "I also have a little one at home to take care of too." she sighed.

"A little one?" I asked her.

"Phoenix. My daughter." she smiled at me. "She has my brown eyes and her raven black hair is just like her father, Fang's."

"You have a child?" I asked, shocked. She certainly doesn't look like the type to be a teen mom. Oh my Arceus, does this mean that it's a major spoiler for the series then?!

"Yep. She's going to turn three. Fang and I love her as much as we love each other." Max sighed.

"That's nice." I smiled. "I've never seen you here around here before."

"We just transferred here." she explained. "I got this job at the beginning of the week and all of us are supposed to start school on Monday."

"Oh okay." I said. Man, I am really losing it.

* * *

 **Gold's POV**

"You're kidding!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry dude, but it's the truth." X nodded his head. Man, this is hard to wrap my head around. SSG and Lyra twins? Geez, I wouldn't have noticed if the guys didn't tell me.

"'Sup guys." Black yawned as he walked in the front door.

"What are you yawning about?" Emerald asked him.

"White kicked him out of the café so he can find a job where he did at the place we worked at last year." Lack-Two explained as he walked in with Black.

"Hey, at least Martin was able to get some customers ever since the school year started." Black said as he sat down on the couch.

"Want me to tell them?" X asked Silver.

"Can I though? I want to make sure I got this down." I spoke up.

"Knock yourself out." Silver shrugged.

"Tell us what?" Black asked.

"Crys got a twin sister and it's Lyra!" I exclaimed.

"As in the Lyra in our class?" Black asked.

"Lyra Kotone? The one with the same last name as Crystal's real one?" Lack-Two asked. "Of course they would be twins. I actually searched it up a few weeks ago."

"And you didn't tell us?!" Emerald exclaimed.

"You never asked." he shrugged.

"Does it really matter though? We all know now. Well, everyone except for Crystal." Silver said..

"The girls told Scarlett, White, and Whi-Two." Emerald nodded.

"I've been wondering; where has Scarlett been? She hasn't been around much lately." I pointed out.

"I don't give a damn about where she's been. After all, she's been hanging around that Mason and Dan a lot." X grumbled.

"For the love of Arceus, if you can't say your love for her in her face, then don't say it at all!" Emerald exclaimed.

"I don't love her!" X shouted.

"It really looks like you do though." Black pointed out.

"So what if I have feelings for her? She doesn't give a damn about my feelings." X huffed as he sat down on the couch.

"X, my friend. Tonight, I will share to you my secrets to the female species." I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"What do you know about females?" X asked.

"I can show you how to woo them enough; they have to fall in love with you!" I exclaimed.

"And who would be stupid enough to fall in love with you?" Silver asked.

"Have you seen my fan club? They're huge!" I exclaimed.

"So are ours, but as you know, we hate it." Lack-Two pointed out.

"Well I love it. All these ladies, just flocking to me." I grinned as I lay back against the couch.

"That's only because Oak gave us the pokédexes." Silver pointed out.

"Just wait, once everyone knows that the girls have them too, the boys will be all over them." Emerald said.

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves just fine." Lack-Two said. "After all, they did train a lot before they came here."

"I wonder what they're doing right now..." I wondered.

* * *

 **Whi-Two's POV**

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Crystal asked as she stepped through the door. Now that I really see it, she and Lyra really, really look similar. But of course, Lack-Two told me about his findings a few weeks ago. I wonder why they took this long to figure it out. I'm serious; they have the same real last name! Arceus, our senpais aren't the brightest if it took two second years to figure it out weeks before they even thought of it.

"No reason." Blue said. "Scarlett." she jumped when Blue called her. "Can I ask why you've been pulling a vanishing trick on us?"

"What do you mean?" Scarlett asked.

"We never see you around anymore. Is there something you're hiding?" White asked.

"No! Why would you girls think that?" she asked.

"Again, we never see you anymore." I echoed White.

"I've been going through some personal stuff lately. It's complicated." Scarlett answered as she looked out the window. "And thanks to Blue, I'm even busier than I'm supposed to be."

We all looked at Blue. "How the hell was I supposed to now that the spokesperson for this school and the rangers are supposed to be doing everything between the two?" she asked.

"You're the President, Blue. You should really know about this." Yellow sighed. "And poor Scarlett is probably suffering from it."

"I'm not just suffering, I think I'm hallucinating now too. "Scarlett added.

"About what?" Crystal asked.

"I swear I saw Maximum Ride today." she said.

"Scar, now you're just talking crazy." White shook her head.

"I'm not kidding! She talked to me and she said everything, from her 'foster siblings' to her _daughter._ Everything from the books, manga, and movies, she looked the same and said all the right stuff!" Scarlett exclaimed.

"You know, I think I do remember seeing a few files earlier this week. Yeah!" Blue snapped her fingers. "We got about six new kids coming in! Only four are going to the high school though. The younger two are going to the junior high on the other side of the island. Back then, I thought they just made up their names, but now I see that connection."

"When are they going to be in class?" I asked.

"Monday." Crystal answered. "But I doubt they'll stay long. I heard they have to switch schools a lot."

"Sounds very weird." Yellow commented.

"I know, but cool!" Blue exclaimed. "But enough about that! We still have another thing to talk about! The Halloween Gala!"

"Honestly, Blue. Why do you make this much work for us?" Crystal sighed.

"Hey! This is part of my job! I promised this school that it would be different than past years, and that is exactly what I'm going to do!" Blue shouted.

"I think it's a nice idea to have a Masquerade Tournament!" I added. "Not to mention the Contest and Breeders' Show as well!"

"Yep! That's right! It's a fun idea, right?" Blue yelled.

"It does sound interesting." Yellow nodded. "Students dress up in costumes, with a mask, choose their alias, and compete against each other. We won't know who won either. It makes it a nice mystery!"

"Yep! And the best thing is that the tournament is open to both girls and boys!" Blue exclaimed. "In fact, I'm making all the tournaments this school year open to all! No more gender separation!"

"Blue, you might want to take it down and bit. Other people are probably trying to sleep." White shushed her.

"White's right. We still have classes tomorrow." Scarlett yawned. "I'm off to bed. Night."

"Night." we called after her as she climbed up the stairs.

"I think I should go up as well. I'm really sleepy right now." Yellow yawned as she went up the stairs.

"If they're gone, I'm gone as well!" Blue stretched her arms before she went up to her room.

"I want to do some more studying before I go to sleep, but I guess I can do it in my room." Crystal waved to White and me as she climbed up the stairs.

"Whi, can I ask you for a favor?" White asked.

"Sure sis. What is it?" I replied.

"You still remember that training you had while you were in Team Plasma, right?" she asked.

"Of course." I nodded.

"Help Silver and Lack-Two." she said. "They're researching every single student in this school for every single detail of their past and every secret they may or may not have. The longer we stay here, the more things don't make sense. I don't care if you break every single law there is, we have to find out every secret this school is hiding. I know there's more than meets the eye. Everyone has a secret. We just have to find it."

* * *

 **Before anyone says anything, this does not count as a crossover. Max and the Flock is only guest starring fora very short while. Trust me. I wrote this. I should know.**

 **Honestly, who didn't see that coming? I know every single one of you knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later. And as a little gift, here's some info on Lyra!**

 **Lyra Kotone - born on April 30th. Pokemon are:** **Meganium** **(Megapyon), Azumarill (Maripyon), Girafarig (Girapyon), Mismagius (Misspyon), Wigglytuff (Jiggpyon), and Feraligatr (Wanipyon).**

 **The nickname scheme comes form Crystal's Japanese pattern where she uses -pyon instead of -ee. Her pokemon come from the anime and is a combination of Marina's and anime Lyra's parties. The first part of the nicknames comes from the pokemon's name for Lyra's pokemon and Marina's nicknames.**

 **That should be it. If you like this, leave a review!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	31. Family Secrets

**Hello everybody! I'm sorry I'm a bit late for this update. My life has just been a bit crazy lately. School is almost over and there's a lot going on in my life. I haven't even had much time to write, but I guess it's a good thing that I write a ton of chapters beforehand, right?**

 **And I admit, I've just been feeling too lazy to do anything lately. I'm so sorry. I really am. But here's another update! Yay! But this may be one of my last updates until August. Yeah. I know. that's a lot, but I may update again in two weeks as I usually do if I have the time. I'm going on vacation out of the country for two weeks so I can't update then and for basically the entire month of July, there's this college prep program I'm going to so I may not have time to update at all that month. So yeah. Look out in a few weeks to see if I update and after that, please wait patiently. I'll try my best, but life always makes things complicated.**

 **And to the reviews!**

 **.18: Thanks a lot! And as a combo of all three verses, I like to add the Lyra and Kris relation in there as shown in the manga where Kris just takes Lyra's outfit from HGSS. As an avid fan of the Maximum Ride series, I would like to say that most of the stuff I said about the flock comes directly form the books. Their real ages are not known so I just go by what they say int eh books. I just updated the ages to keep in line with the story and changed a few things to make more sense. Yes, Maximum did get pregnant, and she and Fang have no biological relations at all. If you think dating a foster sibling is wrong, then you're going to be slightly uncomfortable with the shippings in here since as stated before, the main cast is basically all foster siblings. And I'll make it very clear on which Max is which.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I already gt most of them down. Black: you're gonna love it, X: I think you now where's it's gonna go from the Mt Silver mission, and Gold: actually, there's pretty not much there. But yeah. Most of the gang have some type of family issues.**

 **I think that's a long enough Author's Note. So let's get to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer I don't own Pokemon at all. I wish I did, but I don't. Or any thing I refer to.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

 **X's POV**

"Will you stop stalking me?!"

"I am not stalking you!"

"Then what do you call someone creeping through the bushes, following in the shadows, and hiding behind every damn tree as they walked right behind someone else?!"

"A concerned friend."

I smirked as Scarlett grunted in anger. Even though I don't exactly trust her right now with whatever she has been doing, it does feel nice to make her mad. Honestly, it felt good to be bickering again.

"Yo, what's up?" that guy she showed around, Mason, greeted us as he landed next to us. It was the seventh hour, so that meant Mega Evolution again. So far, it's just Scarlett, Mason, and me.

"When is everyone else is going to be here? You already pissed me off in homeroom and this is really not helping." Scarlett glared at me.

"What did I do?" I asked her.

"If you don't know, then what kind of friend are you?" she glared at me.

"Tell me then." I shot back. Unfortunately, I was tackled to the ground before she could respond. "Ow." I croaked out.

"I warned you already! You have to stay at least a five foot radius from X at all times!" Jade shouted as she stood above me; she was the one who tackled me.

"Cool it you bitch! At least she wasn't the one who tackled your 'idol'!" Blue came in and shouted at Jade.

"And who gave you permission to talk? Just because you spend every single second with Gary just because you're the fucking president doesn't mean a thing! You still have to stay away from him!" Violet yelled at Blue.

"And what about you two bitches? I know that as the tyrants of your branches, you really shouldn't be in the same room as them if every single girl here worships the boys." Scarlett retorted.

"Unlike you, we're not sleeping with them." Jade growled at Scarlett.

"That's it!" Blue lunged at Violet and Jade.

"Blue!" Scarlett grabbed her arm before Blue could jump on the two girls. "They're not worth it. Come on. You can work with Dan, Mason, and I." she dragged her away.

"Hey man, wanna battle us?" Ash tapped on my shoulder. I turned around and saw him, Gary, and Silver standing there.

"Why not? It's better than those two girls." I jerked my head towards Jade and Violet.

We walked towards one of the battlefields where Ash and I were on one side and Silver and Gary on the other.

"Salamè, show 'em what you got!"

"Sceptile, I choose you!"

"Blastoise, give it your all!"

"Gyarados, standby for battle!"

With all of our pokémon out, we Mega Evolved them. Since that's over, we get to the battling part. My favorite.

"Sceptile! Leaf Blade on Gyarados!" Ash shouted.

"Counter it with Dragon Claw!" I told Salamè. His claws glowed a royal blue as he took off towards Sceptile. At the same time, Sceptile's leaves on his arms glowed a bright green before jumping towards Gyarados. Salamè met him in the middle of the battlefield and the two of them struggled to see who will overpower the other.

"Gyarados! Twister!" Silver commanded.

"Blastoise! Rapid Spin!" Gary yelled. As Ash and I were busy, Gyarados swam around in a circle as a twister of dragon power formed. On the other side, Blastoise ducked into his shell and started to spin, heading towards the Twister.

"Push it!" I called it. Salamè growled more fiercely and pushed Sceptile back, breaking the tie. Blastoise flew right into the twister and was thrown around in it. He ended up back on his side.

Boy, this battle is going to be intense.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

I walked down the path in the forest. Classes were over and everyone was allowed to roam and do whatever they want. Chuchu walked down the path in front of me, turning around every so often to make sure I was still behind her.

I usually go to this really nice spot in the forest I found during my first week here. It was a small glade where I can take a nap and not be bothered at all. It was deep in the forest so no one, but me, can find it and I can find my way back to campus.

I couldn't help it, but I can't stop about Crystal and Lyra. I guess it was rather obvious, but that just shows that we don't know a lot. I know for certain that Gold and Emerald are my cousins and Uncle Wilton is my real uncle. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about my parents. Uncle Wilton told me my mother had to give birth to me in his house in the Viridian Forest since she couldn't make it to a hospital in time, but he doesn't know much about my father. He said my mother died giving birth to me while she and my father were still engaged. Uncle Wilton just came home from a five year long trip to Unova so he never met my father.

I feel guilty. My mother _died_ when she was giving birth to me. My father must hate me for that. Maybe that's why he never sought out to find me. Maybe he hates me so much, he never wants to meet.

"Pika?" I snapped you of my thoughts when I heard Chuchu. She was looking at me. I looked up from her and saw X sitting on a nearby log.

"X?" I called out.

"What? Oh, hey Yellow." He waved towards me. "What are you doing this deep it the forest?"

"I was just taking a walk." I lied. Arceus, I always feel bad whenever I lie. Usually, I want to tell the truth, but there are times where I have to lie, yet that wasn't a total lie. "What about you?" I asked.

"Just thinking." X shrugged. "But it seems like you were deeper in thought than I was. What were you thinking about?"

"It's nothing." I shook my head.

"Come on. I'm your friend. Here, sit." He moved over on the log and patted a seat for me to sit in. I did sit down. "Now, tell me, what's bothering you?"

"It's just," I sighed. "We've been finding out about all these things about our friends. First Scarlett and now, Crystal. I've been thinking, what about the rest of us? I know Blue knows her real parents, but Silver still doesn't know his mother, only his father. Gold's father died when he was young and his mother had to take care of him. Emerald's parents both died in a house fire that orphaned him, causing Latias and Latios to take care of him while he was in the foster system. Black's father went missing when he was young, leaving him in the care of his mother. White, Whi-Two, and Lack-Two have the world's worst father. X, you have both of your parents. As for me, my mother died in childbirth to me and my father is a mystery."

"Yel, can I tell you something?" X said. "Everyone's family is a mess. Remember that cousin I told everyone about when those two pokémon attacked Vaniville Town?" I nodded. "I don't even remember who she is since I was so traumatized and as you said, Blue has both of her parents, but she was kidnapped when she was five. She was under the Shadow Lady's control for another five years before she escaped with Silver. Another five years passed with Red until she even _saw_ them."

"I see your point, but in my case, it's different; my mom died because she was giving birth to me and even after all these years, my dad hasn't even contacted me. I think he hates me because I caused his love to die." I explained.

"Yellow, that is not true." X said. "I'm pretty sure any father won't hate their child. Why not call your uncle and see what he knows?"

"My uncle doesn't know anything about my father." I shook my head.

"Just give it a try. See if he forgot anything." X urged me.

"Okay." I gave in. I took out my pokégear and dialed Uncle Wilton's number. The line rang for a while until I heard it pick up.

"Hello?"

"Uncle? It's me, Yellow." I stated.

"Good to hear from you. How's my little gem doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine." I told him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. What is it?" he responded.

"You said my mother died giving birth to me and my father was away at the time, do you know anything else about him?" I asked him.

"Dear, I told you all I know. I hardly knew your dad. Your mom and he were only engaged at the time and he had to leave on a year long trip. I was lucky to have walking through the forest to meet up with her when she started to go in labor. I helped her through the process and I will never forget the first time I held you in my arms. But your mother died just minutes after you were born. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Uncle." I told him. "Did she say anything to you about my father?"

"Hmm, she didn't say much since I just came back from my trip, oh! There is one thing. Before she died, your mom told me that she didn't have a chance to tell your dad."

"Tell him what?" I asked.

"She didn't get to finish. I assume it was he didn't know that she was pregnant, but I wasn't sure." Uncle Wilton replied.

"Thank you anyways Uncle." I told him.

"I'll always help you, Am." he replied.

"Goodbye Uncle." I said.

"Goodbye." he said before he hung up.

"So? What did he say?" X asked when I put away my pokégear.

"He said that my mother didn't have the chance to tell my father about something before he went on a year long trip. He thinks it was me." I answered.

"That's good than. If he didn't know your mom was pregnant, than he doesn't know about you. And that means he's not avoiding you on purpose." X concluded.

"I guess." I shrugged.

"I'll tell you what, Yel." X nudged me. "I help you with your family problems if you can help me find my cousin."

"What? Why?" I asked him.

"Even though I don't remember her, I know that we were really close. She was my best friend when I was little and I'm sure she's worried about me as well. I want to find her to make sure she's okay, make her see I'm okay, and bond with her again. Plus it's always good to connect with a long lost family member." X explained.

"Okay, but why do you want me to find her? Wouldn't Lack or Silver be better at this than I would?" I countered.

"They're busy with other stuff White gave them. I also have a feeling my cousin attends this academy." X answered.

"That's still a large amount of area to cover. Also, most of the girls here hate me and the other girls in my house." I explained.

"Okay." X scratched his chin. "I think she had like blonde or brown hair. No, I remember. It was a honey color. Arceus, I was really hungry when I was a kid." X sighed.

"Still a lot of girls like that." I told him.

"Well, there's one more thing I can tell you, she's a year younger than me." X added. "But even when we were little, she was crazy smart. She might be up a year. Oh and I think that I always used to call her 'Y'."

"I think that's enough to narrow it down a bit. I'll do what I can." I stood up. "I'll see you later." I waved at him as Chuchu and walked down the path.

"See ya, Yel!" I heard him yell behind me.

* * *

 **X's POV**

I looked on as Yellow continued to walk down the forest path. I decided to walk back to the house. The sun was still up, but I did make a promise to Yellow.

I can't go to Silver or Lack-Two. They're already busy. Whi-Two maybe, but I'm sure White has her doing something too. I have nothing to go on. So I'm stuck. Wait, there is a DNA test, but how would I do that without looking like a pervert?

I brought out my pokégear and dialed Scarlett's number, but she didn't pick up. I tried four more times, but same thing. I gave up and called Blue instead.

"What do you want?" she picked up.

"Blue, do you mind getting me a strand of Yellow's hair?" I asked her.

"What the hell? Why?" she asked.

"I'm helping Yellow find her biological father and I need a piece of her DNA." I answered.

"You could've said that first without being all weird about it." she retorted. "I'll do it. Just meet me at the Lab."

"Sorry Blue, but-"

"No 'but'." she stopped me. "Yellow is one of my best friends. I am helping you."

"Fine. I'll see you there." I grumbled. She hung up and I shoved my pokégear back in my pocket. Now, how would I get there? Salamè is still tired from the battle earlier today. I forgot to heal him after class. I guess Lasma can use his Psychic to fly me to the Lab.

I looked up at the sky. The trees weren't covering the sky so Lasma can fly me straight to the Lab. I called him out and told him to use his Psychic. A blue outline appears around me as I was carried up in the sky as Lasma did the same. He faced in the direction of the Lab and we flew over there.

As we were flying over there, I looked down and noticed how small everyone looks from up here. I noticed six kids flying in a V-formation with a Zorua behind the smallest one. At first I thought they had wings _attached_ to their backs, but when I looked at them closer, they had bird pokémon carrying them by their shoulders. They looked familiar somehow. Maybe a movie?

Anyways, Lasma and I made it to the Lab and we landed in front of the front doors at the ground. Being a funny guy like he is, Lasma dropped me fifteen feet in the air.

"Ouch!" I cried out.

"Gen gen gen!" Lasma laughed as he floated down next to me.

"Ha ha. Very funny." I said dryly as I recalled him back in his pokéball. I stood up and dusted myself off. I adjusted my blazer and walked in the building. I dialed Blue again.

"What do you want?" she answered.

"What room are you in?" I asked her.

"Top floor. Biology lab." she answered.

"You always have to make it hard for me." I sighed.

"I just got here." she retorted.

"I'll be up there." I sighed. I hung up and looked if there's an elevator anywhere. I really should've landed on the roof. Seeing how there's no elevator, I reluctantly made my way up the stairs.

Several flights of stairs later, I ended up on the fourth floor. I spotted Blue and Gary waiting outside one of the lab rooms.

"Why is he here?" I asked Blue once I caught my breath.

"I've been wondering that too." Gary added.

"You are learning to be a scientist so you would know how to work all of these whatchamacallits in here." Blue explained. "And here is what you will be examining." she held up a corked test tube with a lock of blonde hair in it.

"What did you do? Cut off Yellow's hair while she was sleeping?" I looked at her.

"No! I am not a weirdo! She was just trimming her hair this morning and I just picked it up from the floor." Blue explained.

"Let's just get this over with." Gary snatched the test tube from Blue's hand and marched in the room. Blue and I followed him. Gary was already at a lab table with a microscope, looking through it when Blue and I got to him.

"So? Can we figure out Yellow's dad from it?" Blue asked.

"Just looking at a piece of hair doesn't show who the birth parents are." Gary glared at her. "I have to look closer at the DNA." he moved away from the table and to a computer. He typed some keys in and a screen popped up, filled with colors, numbers, and letters.

"And what does that mean?" I asked him.

"Seems like Yellow got her blondness from her mother. It's going to be a bit tough to determine her father from this now." Gary explained. Yeah let's go with that. We can't tell him that Yellow's hair is actually black. It would blow her cover.

"Isn't blonde hair a recessive trait? Maybe she also got some of those genes from her dad too." Blue played along.

"Still not enough." Gary shook his head.

"She has brown eyes! More like an amber color, but officially brown." Blue added. They're actually blue, but Gary doesn't have to know that.

"There are a ton of genes that can determine eye color." Gary pointed out.

"Just see what you can find out." I told him.

"Fine." he grunted. "Looks like her mother had blue eyes. Her father would've had brown eyes than. Hmm? Looks like there's a bit of yellow mixed in there too."

"Yellow eyes?" I looked at Blue. "That could make finding her dad easier."

"Seems like her dad also has the same blood type as her. Plus some extras." Gary reported.

"Extras?" Blue asked.

"Seems like she inherited some 'powers' like healing, empathy, and telekinesis." Gary explained.

"So you're saying her dad was also born in the Viridian Forest?" I asked him.

"If that is what that means, then yes." he nodded.

"None many people have been born in the Viridian Forest in the last fifty years. If we can find any males old enough, then we can find Yellow's father!" Blue concluded.

"And here's one more thing to help you. He's also has royal Blackthorn blood." Gary turned towards us after shutting down the computer.

"Royal what now?" Blue asked.

"You're saying Yellow dad is both born in Viridian Forest _and_ he's descended from the Blackthorn dragon tribe?" I asked Gary.

"Exactly that." he nodded. "Good luck on your search." he left the room.

"X! Do you know what this means?" Blue grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.

"Um, no?" I told her when she stopped.

"Not many people are unique like that. If we can find that one person, then we would've found Yellow's birth father!" She let go of me. "Come on! We have to start right now!"

"Do we have to?" I asked her.

"Yes! I hope you know how to hack into a computer!"

I already have a bad feeling about this.

* * *

 **Black's POV**

"Alright! And that makes your one hundredth customer this year!" I exclaimed as the last customer for the day left.

"I have to admit, you can always bring the girls in." Martin shook his head. "Mind flipping the sign over? It's closing time already."

"Sure thing!" I nodded. I walked over from the counter and flip the sign over to 'Closed'. "Man, it's only been a few weeks and this place is getting crowded already."

"I told you, it's your 'dexholder magic'." Martin joked. "Before, I had not a single soul in here."

"If it's to help you, I will do anything." I patted his shoulder. "And I do need to pay White back."

"I still don't understand how you can just let her boss you around." Martin told me.

"I just have a feeling that I should listen to her. I do owe her a lot for what I've done." I replied.

"I still don't get why you do it, but whatever floats your boat." Martin shook his head. "See ya tomorrow!"

"Bye!" I waved towards him as I grabbed my stuff, untied my apron, gave it back to Martin, and walked out the front door. I slung my bag over my shoulder. I looked around. The sun was just setting and I looked at my watch. It said it was around 6.

I had enough time to go home. I began walking back to the house. The streetlamps lining the streets of the town were starting to light up. It was Wednesday so the Johto gang should be heading out of the café soon.

"Ouch! Stupid rusty trash can!"

I stopped walking when I heard the voice. I backtracked a bit to the alley I heard it from. I looked in the alley and saw a girl with a black dress, a Pikachu tail, and Pikachu ears. The alley was connected to the weird triple K girly café.

"Can't believe I even signed up from this." The girl blew a piece of blonde hair from her black frame glasses.

"Scarlett?" I called out. She froze.

She stiffened up. "Damn it." I heard her mutter. She slowly turned around. "Black, this is not what it looks like."

"Then what is it exactly?" I asked her.

"I'm not doing it because I want to. I have to take up this job." Scarlett sighed.

"Did Violet or another one of those girls blackmail you? If so, I can just-"

"No! It's nothing like that. It's complicated." she explained. "I can't say exactly why, but it's really important that I keep this job. You can keep a secret, right?"

"Patrat Scout's honor!" I saluted.

"It must feel good to have a normal childhood." she sighed. "I'm almost off the clock. Can you wait out here for me?"

"I'm in no rush." I shrugged.

"I'll be right out." Scarlett went back in. I leaned against the building waiting for her.

I'm not sure if I can imagine Scarlett taking up this kind of job willingly. There must be something going on for her to do this. But I'm not one to pry in someone's life. At least, unless someone else makes me. There is a reason I am not one of 'go-to' people for these kinds of stuff.

"Okay Black, I'm done." Scarlett walked out of the alley with her school uniform on. A blonde girl was with her. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw her.

"It's surprising Violet let everyone go early, huh?" The blonde asked Scarlett.

"Our homeroom teacher actually gave us a lot to study about. We have a 'pop' quiz tomorrow." Scarlett answered her.

"It's not a 'pop' quiz if he tells you ahead of time." The blonde laughed.

"Tell me about it." Scarlett rolled her eyes. She caught me staring at them. "Sorry. Max, this is my friend Black Kuro. Black, this is Max Ride. She's one of the other girls who work here."

"Nice to meet you!" Max smiled at me.

"Um, hi." I greeted her back.

"I have to get going. Phoenix and Fang are probably worried about me. Bye!" Max ran down the street.

"Bye!" Scarlett called after her.

"Um, please tell me I'm going crazy." I stated.

"That was my first thought when I saw her too." Scarlett chuckled.

"So is she-? Does she have-?" I asked her.

"I don't know. Her maid uniform has Pidgeot wings, but other than that, I don't know." Scarlett shrugged. "By the way, I really appreciate you keeping that secret for me."

"It's no big deal." I shrugged as I started walking again with Scarlett at my side. "If one of us were going to find out, you're lucky it was me. Blue would never let you live it down."

"Thank Arceus." she sighed. "I feel like I should repay you in some way though."

"You don't have to." I told her.

"No, but I want to. I know I can't help you with White, but what about something else? Anything you need?" she asked.

"Scar, there's really nothing you can do for me." I shook my head.

"What about your dad?" I didn't notice that she stopped walking a few steps back. When she said that, I turned around. "I know your dad went missing. I can find him."

"Scarlett, you don't have to do that. My mom and I have accepted the fact that my dad is not coming back." I turned back around.

"Black, I know what it finds like." I started to walk away. "My dad was away all the time so it felt like I didn't have one while I did. I don't know what it feels like to have a mother, and not much of a father, but I know that everyone needs one. Even after my dad actually went missing on Mt Silver, I still felt a connection to him. I still wanted to be with him."

"Even if you wanted to find him, he's long gone." I told her.

"And that's what Silver said about his dad, but that bastard still found a way to sneak his way into his son's life where he had no right to." Scarlett ran up to me. "Your father won't end up that way. I have a feeling he won't. Just let me find him."

"If it takes to you to drop the subject, then knock yourself out." I walked past her.

"Black, I know it's hard. I really do. But it's the right move. Trust me." she said as she walked behind me.

"How do you know?" I suddenly turned around to face her. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because, even though my own dad wasn't missing for that long, I have seen kids whose fathers and/or mothers have been gone their entire life. I've seen their sadness, their anger. Some still has hope that their missing parents would come back. Others lost hope entirely. They never found their parents, and I don't want the same to happen to you. I was one of the lucky ones, and I want the same thing for you too. No child should go through anything like that." she looked at me in the eye.

"And our friends?" I asked.

"I will do the same thing if they want. I won't if they don't want it, but I will if I feel like I have to make something up to them. I know they may have family they hate, but I can still do it. Everyone has a right to know where they come from." Scarlett answered.

"Okay then. You have my permission." I stepped away from her. "Let's just get home before the others get worried!" I smiled at her.

"Uh, okay." she grinned back. I know; that 180 emotional turnaround was a bit weird to me too, but I just had to change the mood. We started to walk through town again.

It's not that I hate my dad for walking out on my mom. The only reason I don't talk about it much is because my mom doesn't. After he left, my mom wouldn't talk about him for some reason. Whenever I asked her about it, she would always go into how great he was, but then something would call her attention away.

We only talk about him whenever I bring it up. My mom never brought it up on her own. We moved to Nuvema Town right after he left so it was like a fresh start for us. But that would also mean that no one in town would know about my dad, yet that's fine with me. They shouldn't be bothered with my family's problems.

While we were talking about family, I couldn't help but bite my tongue. All those things Scarlett was saying about family. I felt compelled to tell her the truth, but I know I can't. Either all of us tell her, or she finds out on her own. There is a possibility of Red telling her, but I doubt he'll tell her. He didn't have the guts to do it while she was little so why now?

"So, about Max." I decided to break the silence.

"Huh? Oh, right. She's exactly like what they say it the books." Scarlett looked at me.

"Everything?" I looked at her.

"Foster siblings, her daughter, and her need to protect them all." Scarlett nodded.

"You now, we might need to keep an eye on them." I said.

"I'm sure Blue will get a kick of it." Scarlett chuckled. "Seems like we're at the houses already." I looked up and saw she was right. Our houses were right in front of us.

"What took you two so long?" Emerald asked us from the backyard. "Crys, Gold, Silver, and I got here about ten minutes before you."

"We were just talking on the way here." Scarlett answered as she unlocked the gate.

"I've been wondering, where have you been for the last few weeks?" Lack-two asked Scarlett.

"It's none of your business! Just some personal stuff I have to take care of." she answered as she sat down in a lawn chair.

"What kind of stuff?" Gold asked.

"What part of 'personal' don't you people understand?" Scarlett glared at them.

"Seems like someone's PMSing." Gold nudged me. But Crystal heard him and kicked him in his shins.

"Excuse you, but if a girl doesn't want to tell you something, it doesn't mean she's on her time of the month!" Blue yelled at him.

"I hope you have a valid reason to be gone so late." White looked at me.

"As you said, I got a job and I did. And that was where I was." I told her.

"How's Martin doing?" X asked me.

"Better since I started to work there. People are actually coming in." I shrugged.

"Sorry guys, but I think I should head in." Yellow yawned.

"I should too. I have a lot of study to do for a quiz tomorrow." Scarlett stood up.

"I'm going to join you girls for a little study group before bed." Blue stood up.

"The quiz is tomorrow?" X asked them.

"Satoshi said it this morning. Did you really forget already?" Blue looked at him.

"Crap! I have to study!" X rushed into our house.

"See you guys tomorrow." Yellow, Scarlett, and Blue waved us goodbye as they headed in their house.

"Do we have anything tomorrow?" Gold asked.

"Wallace didn't say anything." White shook her head.

"Did Iris?" Emerald asked.

"Not that I know of." Whi-Two shook her head.

"I have other stuff to do." Silver stood up.

"I do too." Lack-Two nodded as he stood up.

"I just remembered! I have something important to do for tomorrow!" Whi-Two rushed into the girls' house. Silver and Lack-Two just walked in the boys'.

"Do you know what's up with all of them?" I asked the rest of us.

"Silver, Lack, and Whi are doing something for me." White explained.

"Yeah, we know, but Silver seemed moodier for some reason." Gold pointed out.

"Do you mean more than he usually is?" Emerald added.

"I think it's because he got a letter from you-know-who." Crystal said.

"Voldemort?" I whispered.

"Don't say his name!" Gold clasped a hand over my mouth.

"No! And he would be he-who-must-not-be-named, not you-know-who. Well, not _that_ you-know-who." Crystal scolded us.

"Why would Silver get a letter from _him_?" White asked.

"I couldn't help myself, but took a look at it while he was busy. Seems like that bastard finally wanted to give him a clue to his mother." Crystal explained.

"Why should we trust him?" I asked.

"I went through it with some resources of mines and it seems like he's telling the truth."Crystal noted.

"Then what's the clue?" Gold asked.

"We should look for someone who looks like Silver as he is now." Crystal said.

"Like, his hair color and style?" I asked.

"Exactly." She nodded.

Everyone stayed quiet until Emerald spoke up. "Well, we only know one woman like that and she's just like _him._ "

"Should we say anything then?" White asked.

"No. We have to look at other possibilities. The letter may also refer to what Silver used to look like. After all, his father doesn't know how much he changed." Crystal said.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, when we can inform the others." I said. "For now, let's just get some sleep." Emerald, Gold, and I went to the boys' house while Crystal and White went to theirs. We split to our different rooms and settled in for the night.

Man, we're finding out everyone's families today, aren't we?

* * *

 **Okay, I know that all of you saw that coming. You really did. But, there's going to be one extra little surprise in there!**

 **Yellow's dad? You all know who that is. I know you do.**

 **Black? I like to keep that as a surprise.**

 **And there you have it! More family issues!**

 **And I won't make a ton of true real world references since I'll try to make them relevant to the pokemon worlds, but that was just too good to pass up.**

 **Till next time, review!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	32. Halloween: Part One

**Hey! Update here!**

 **So I have to make this short. Very short.**

 **.18: She was? I really didn't know that. And even though it is a very common thing in stories, I do want to lead Amber's father in that way as it made the most sense for me. I already have the families set in stone, so it's a bit too late to change any ideas as they are already integrated in the overall plot. So, I'm sorry if you think some of the family relations are predictable, but that's how I want to lead my story.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: You have to see if this is a shipping chapter or not! Since I said that Crystal and Gold replaces Marina and Jimmy, I'm making them completely different characters and will have a short appearance in the story. And I have started to read your stories. I have to say, you are an amazing writer. I'm not an Amourshipping fan, but the story is very well written.**

 **Lillina Smith: Thank you! I try to include everything from the games and since the games have the fathers almost always missing, I have to make up some backstories for each of them. I don't want anyone to feel left out of the action at all so I try to have everyone have something even if they overlap with someone else's. And she was undercover for Team Plasma with an annoying twin brother so privacy isn't really a obstacle for her.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything I refer to.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two

 **White's POV**

Tonight's the Halloween Gala. Blue gathered volunteers to help get it ready. She forced everyone, the boys included, to do it. Somehow, she roped Ash and his friends to do it as well. Then the Ranger kids we made friends with were also helping 'willingly' due to Blue. She even convinced Brendan's little brother, Brent, and Lucas' little sister, Lucy, both ranger students, to help out. In fact, those are the only 'volunteers'. Thanks a lot Blue!

"White! You ready yet?" Summer poked her head in the homeroom door. School's out so I decided to go somewhere I can clear my head before the chaos starts. As the days went on, Summer and I grew closer as friends. That, I am thankful for. Finally, a sane person in this class.

"Let's just get this circus over with." I looked up at her. She had no flying Partner pokémon yet, so she had this School Styler she uses. Ever since the rangers joined, they let loose these Staraptor all over the place. The ranger students could capture them to fly around.

Summer walked over to the window as I did. I opened one up and let out Barbara. I looked at Summer to see her finish capturing a Staraptor. I still don't understand the inner depths of a Capture Styler, but I'm sure Summer will explain it to me whether I want to hear it or not sooner or later.

I hopped on Barbara as Summer hopped on her captured Staraptor.

"So, where are we heading?" Summer asked.

"Blue said we're meeting in the Performance Hall." I told her.

"And which way is that?" Summer asked.

"The building with the flashy lights." I pointed to it. "If you ever seen a Contest Hall, the Performance Hall is just a giant version of one."

"I've lived in Oblivia for all my life. There are no contests there." she shook her head.

"Let's just go before Blue yells at us." I stated. She nodded and we flew over there.

I don't mind spending all this time doing whatever Blue says. In fact, I almost find it to be fun. Almost. The time I get to spend with Ash's gang and the Ranger kids is nice. I get to know them better. I'm just so glad Blue only convinced those two groups to help out. If the fangirls knew about the sign-ups, we would be doomed.

I'm sure Summer wouldn't like it either. From what I could see from homeroom, she hates this other girl in class, Winter. She's like the opposite of Summer. Winter's cold, quiet, and lazy where Summer is cheerful, loud, and energetic.

Hell, even their appearances can be considered opposite. Summer has bright, almost golden, brown hair with shining golden amber eyes, while Winter has pure white hair and piercing ice blue eyes. In fact, they are so opposite, I wonder how they're both into Ben. But it's his choice on who he chooses, so it can go either way.

Blue reserved the Performance Hall for the Gala so it would only be us in there until tonight. She also had the same setup as the Homecoming Dance, except the people who showed the way here would be greeting guests along with some of the extra help we have. Scarlett was stuck checking names off with Vincent. I don't know why, but I have a feeling she doesn't like him. I haven't known him that much to get an answer for myself, but I'm sure to get one today.

Summer and I landed in front of the entrance where her Staraptor was released after a 'thanks' from Summer. We entered and saw the entire building changed into a giant ballroom with battlefields lining the outskirts.

"Blue, how did you get it to be like this?" I asked her as she walked over to us.

"Easy, in all of the buildings, the floors and rooms can be moved to be made into a giant ballroom. I got permission to do it to the Performance Hall." she answered. "Summer, you can help White, me, and the other girls blow up balloons for the boys to hang up later."

"How would we get around the place? It's going to take about ten minutes to get a quarter to the other side." I pointed out.

"Use your pokémon." Blue said bluntly.

"Um, I only have my Pichu." Summer pointed out as a shiny Pichu with a blue flower clip on her right ear climbed from her shoulder to the top of her head.

"You can borrow one of mines." Blue tossed her a pokéball. Summer caught it and it popped open to reveal Blasty. "Just hop on him and he can use his cannons to propel you anywhere." Blue explained as Ditty changed from a bracelet on her wrist to an Arcanine. She hopped on while I called out Barbara again. I climbed on her as Summer got on Blasty.

"So which way, Blue?" I asked her.

"Follow me!" Ditty dashed away in a direction and I told Barbara to follow them. I noticed Summer was able to follow easily as she sat on Blasty's shell.

"Hey! This is actually fun!" she exclaimed.

"Pichu!" her Pichu exclaimed.

"I know, Rin!" Summer replied.

"Here we are!" Blue stopped in front of the other girls with a bunch of balloons around them and more deflated ones in a bag on a table nearby.

"Blue, are all of these balloons needed?" Dawn asked as her Lopunny tried to blow up a balloon. They all had some of their pokémon out to help them.

"I'm not sure having balloons at a Gala where it's supposed to be classy is classy." Rhythmi pointed out.

"But it's all part of my vision!" Blue exclaimed.

"Now I see where you get your 'crazy' comment from." Kate whispered to Scarlett, but Blue couldn't hear her.

"Do you mind if I let Amanda out? She can probably help round up all of the balloons." I asked.

"There's nothing stopping you." Crystal shrugged as she passed Summer a bag of deflated balloons. For the next hour, we blew up the balloons while Blue directed the boys on where to put them. After we caught our breaths after we finished blowing all of them up, we set up the snack table.

We had a large spread of food since we had about five tables of snacks. Yeah, the gala is going to be long since it's starting at 6 and lasting until two, three in the morning. We're going to need a bigger building if we're going to try to go any further. If we do, than Blue would want to do it bigger.

"Hey Blue! Where's the candy?" Gold called out.

"Really? You want _more_ sugar?" Crystal glared at him.

"It's Halloween! There _has_ to be candy here! Especially since we can't go Trick-or-Treating on the island." he pointed out.

"I'm going to put out a giant bowl full of candy out after the battles so we can really enjoy it." Blue told him.

"Is that a good idea?" Kate asked her.

"Yeah, from what I heard, Keith can't handle that much sugar either." May pointed out.

"Hey!"

"It's true though!" Lucy yelled at Keith.

"If we're keeping sugar away from anyone, I vote Lyra." Silver spoke up.

"Silvy!" she whined. "And I can control myself! Unlike others." Lyra rolled her eyes. "Barry." she coughed.

"I heard that!" Barry shouted.

"People, can we please stop shouting and get back to work?!" Blue screamed.

"You're shouting." Gary pointed out.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Blue yelled at him. "And help Ash bring in that statue of the Headless Horseman!"

"Blue, that's just an old myth around these parts." Yellow reminded her.

"What myth?" Rhythmi asked.

"You never heard the Legend of the Masked Killer?" Whi-Two faked gasped. Those acting classes are really paying off.

"M-Masked Killer?" Kate gulped.

"Can I tell it Blue? I want to!" Serena exclaimed.

"Go for it." she smirked.

"Okay, so about five hundred years ago, when the island was just inhabited with the very first settlers," The lights turned off due to Emerald and Lack-Two. Serena somehow got hold of a flashlight and was shining it under her face, making her face look even more ominous. The rest of the girls were sitting in a circle around her.

"There was a man, Crane, who was considered insane by the rest of his village. He was casted off to this very island. Some say he got crazy because of his work, but some say he got crazy by the taste of human flesh!" When Serena said that, the ranger girls immediately huddled together. I could spot the ranger boys drop some things as they listened in.

"On this island, Crane was unknown to the people at the time, so they just let him wander around. Until one night, a young woman got murdered! And her heart was missing!" I heard someone scream. I bet it was one of the boys in this instance.

"The next morning, no one could figure out who did it. The next night, another woman got murdered! And her heart was also missing!" Another scream. This time, everyone looked at Gold who quickly covered his mouth.

"The pattern continued for eight more nights. A total of ten women were murdered. All of their hearts were carved out. No one ever found out who murdered them all at that time. The only clue the murderer left was a Banette mask. Old Crane never left his home when everyone was talking about the murders."

"It wasn't until a young woman entered his home one night did the town hear her blood curdling scream! They rushed in, to find the woman dead and the Crane holding her heart in his hand. He was the murderer! The townspeople chopped off his head and burned his body!"

"But on the next night, a Headless Horseman on a pitch black Rapidash with a fiery blue mane and dead white eyes rode into town. The Horseman burned all the towns on the island to the ground, never had someone lived on this island again. Until now. Ever since then, the Headless Horseman is said to rise from the grave every Halloween and burn whoever is on the island. And after every massacre, he will leave behind a Banette mask." Serena flipped off the flashlight as she finished the tale. The lights flipped on.

"Oh my Arceus, that nearly scared me to death!" Kate exclaimed.

"Will we be safe tonight?!" Keith asked.

"Relax, it's only a story." Scarlett reassured them.

"You know, that story gives me an idea for the next play." I wondered out loud. The legend would be a nice subject to base one of the plays on.

"You're kidding!" Black exclaimed.

"Black, what are you worried about? You know that the story isn't real! You've been here since last year!" I told him.

"Actually, the entire school took a field trip to the Old Chateau in Sinnoh last year on Halloween." Gary pointed out.

"Yeah, so this would be the very first time the school would stay on the island for Halloween." Ash corrected.

"Isn't this school like over a hundred years old? And Oak had it for ten years." Blue pointed out.

"Everyone had a field trip every year on Halloween so they are never here." Brendan shrugged.

"How convenient." Crystal rolled her eyes. "Alright everyone, we should get back to work."

"We have to head back home to get changed." Yellow spoke up.

"We're basically done here. The boys will finish up while the girls go get ready first. Is that okay with everyone?" Blue asked. Everyone nodded. "Good. Gary, make sure nothing breaks."

"It's what I always do." Gary rolled his eyes.

The girls and I used our pokémon to get to one of the exits and walked out of the Performance Hall. We used our pokémon to get back to our houses where we split ways. Blue led the way to our house where we got into each of our rooms to get ready. I walked in my room and locked the door.

I opened up my closet and pulled out my costume for tonight. It was based off of Reshiram. It was a white dress that reached down to the floor. White fabric was layered over and over until it looked like it was flowing and stuck up in some places. The sleeves were wrapped with white fabric, making them seem like they were hanging loose. Three orange sashes were wrapped around the waist. They were metallic so sometimes they were orange, other times not, depending on the light. On the back was a medium pair of white wings like Reshiram's. It came with white heels that strapped around the ankle and a white mask that matched Reshiram's face with holes cut out for the eyes.

I changed into it, hiding my pokégear in the sashes that also acted as pockets. I'm sure it wouldn't fall out while it's in there. I pocketed a few of my pokéballs in there too for the tournament later. A special white pokéball was well hidden in the sashes. I placed the mask on; I could still see everything around me. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that the dress wasn't that big. It was just right for me.

I walked out of the room and saw Crystal walk out at the same time. She had a costume based off of Suicune on. Her blue hair was let loose so it was flowing behind her back. Her costume was a light blue kimono-like dress that went to white at the very bottom. The obi was a dark blue color while she had a headdress shaped like Suicune's horns on her forehead. Ribbons that were connected to it framed her face and were weaving in and out of her hair. She had a light blue and white mask on. I spotted light blue sandals on her feet.

"I like your dress." Crystal commented me.

"Thanks. I like yours too." I said.

"Should we get downstairs?" she asked. I nodded. I followed her downstairs to the living room where Whi-Two was waiting. Her costume was based off of Kyurem's White Form. Her dress was styled like mines, but it was a grey dress layered with ice blue and white fabric. She had fire orange sashes and ice blue fabric for one sleeve, grey for the other. Her hair was let down and it flowed behind her, reaching where her knees would be. She had metallic orange heels on and her mask was white and ice blue.

"Blue's not done yet?" She asked us.

"I think she's holding up Scar and Yellow to help her." I answered. We sat down on the couch waiting for the other three. I'm sure the boys are getting ready right now, same as we are.

"Blue and Scarlett should be down soon." Yellow informed us as she walked down the stairs. She had her hair in pigtails over her shoulders. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless dress with yellow leggings. She had three brown stripes on her back with a female Pikachu tail poking through on her tailbone. She had black boots on and Pikachu ear connected to a hairband on her head, concealed by her hair. She wore a yellow mask that had red cheeks.

"Yellow! You look so cute!" Whi-Two squealed.

"T-thanks." Yellow blushed.

"Scarlett! You come down right now!" Blue stomped down the stairs. She was wearing a blue dress with a Blastoise shell on the back of it. It even had cannons sticking out. She wore grey boots that reached up to her knees where her dress stopped. She had grey gloves covering her hands, running up her arms until they were halfway up her upper arms. She wore a blue and grey mask.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Scarlett complained as she walked down the stairs. She wore a pink flowing dress that went to the floor with see through light pink fabric wrapped around her dress. It was off the shoulder with the sleeve connected to a cape made of light pink see through fabric behind her. The cape also connected to the middle finger on each of her hands. Scarlett had silver cuffs on her wrists and a silver collar on. There was a Mew tail sticking out from behind her and Mew ears on her head, the bottoms covered by her hair. She wore a simple light pink mask and light pink ballet flats that had same color ribbons wrapped around her ankles.

"Where are your glasses?" Whi-Two asked.

"I decided to ditch them tonight. I'm wearing contacts, but they are really bothering me. I just decided to wear them tonight because it's going to be hard to wear glasses with a mask on." Scarlett shrugged.

"Going for something different, huh?" I asked her.

"Blue didn't want the three of us to go incredibly fancy." Scarlett explained.

"But she forced us to!" Crystal exclaimed.

"That was before I changed my mind." Blue shrugged. "Come on, we should get going."

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

As much as I love Blue as a best friend, she can make the most idiotic choices. I am so glad I snuck Rio's pokéball in here somewhere. Don't ask where. Pika and the others are back at the house. Only Rio and Sol are with me. What? I need a minimum of three pokémon for the tournament and a certain pink cat decided to pop in while I was done changing.

She gave me permission to capture her, but in a special pink pokéball she designed I don't want to know where or how. I caught her with it and I'll let her go when the night is over. If I can get her to. I bet she just wants me to be her trainer for the rest of my life. I'll just keep her pokéball on me while she just roams the world.

When we got to the Performance Hall, everyone else was in their costumes already. Blue thought it would be nice if the people who helped set the gala up would be revealed to each other and only each other until the end. I'm fine with that and so was everyone else, so we did.

Ash was a Charizard, Gary was a Venusaur, X's Xerneas (which was funny to me), Serena was Yveltal, May was Kyogre, Brendan was Groudon, Emerald was Rayquaza, Gold was Ho-oh, Silver was Lugia, Lyra was Entei, Dawn was Giratina, Barry was Palkia, Lucas was Dialga, Black was Zekrom, and Lack-Two was Kyurem in its Black Form. Kate was Cresselia, Kellyn was Darkrai, Keith was Heatran, Rhythmi and Isaac were Lucario, Summer was Latias, Ben was Latios, Lucy was Manaphy, and Brent was Phione.

Everyone went to their station. I hated mines since it was the same as it was for Homecoming. I sat at the table at the path leading to the Performance Hall. People could enter at any of the many entrances around it, but there was only one path leading up to them. There were lights so no one could be able to miss it and fly over us. They had to check in first.

I waited for Vincent to come and when he did, he had an Arceus costume. How appropriate for a human being who thought he was all that. Good thing Mason already gave me that engagement ring. I couldn't help but keep playing with it while it was on my ring finger on my left hand. It was just a simple gold band with a rare red diamond in the middle of it. Though I didn't think of it before, getting married to Steven's son does have its perks. Though I'm not sure what to think of the etiquette classes with Cynthia yet. I'm having my first class with her this weekend.

 _Wow, you're right; he is a self centered bastard._ Rio commented from inside her pokéball.

 _You should've seen him when I had my marriage meeting with him._ I told her.

 _If I was there, I would've pounded him into the ground right away._ she said.

 _I should've._ I mentally rolled my eyes.

"You look lovely this evening." Vincent commented as he kissed my hand. I wanted to smack him.

"I would say the same to you, but I have a feeling you said it to yourself already." I retorted.

"Now, now, a lady shouldn't be so cold." he scolded me.

"I'll let Cynthia deal with me than. It's none of your business how ladylike I am." I glared at him. He didn't say anything as he sat down next to me. I purposely moved my chair as far away from him as possible.

To keep their identities, Blue passed out a card to everyone on campus so they can conceal themselves until the end of the night. I did the work of checking the number on the card and checking them off. Vincent was just the mascot to greet them. Most of the girls swoon over him, but I don't see it.

As people were passing by, I could tell who some of them were. Violet was an Articuno, Jade was a Moltres, and Opal was a Zapdos. Ebony was a Zorua, Ivory was a Minccino, and Quartz was an Eevee. Miette was a Sharpedo, Ursula was a Camerupt, and Lisia was an Altaria. Dan was an Arcanine while Mason was a Genesect.

Once everyone was checked in, I noticed that there was every kind of pokémon people dressed up as. More than one person even dressed up as the same pokémon too. Man, there is a lot of people here if there's more than 804 different species of pokémon.

When I was sure everyone was in there, I packed up and met Dawn, May, and Serena at one of the entrances, leaving Vincent behind.

"Thank Arceus that was over." I sighed as I met up with the three of them.

"Must be hard being with him, huh?" May smirked. She was wearing a blue flowing off the shoulder dress that reaches her knees in the front and the floor in the back with Kyogre's designs on it in red. The edges were white while her hair was in a bun and she had a blue mask on. I could see that she had blue high heels on.

"Don't you dare give me that face. I _despise_ being near that boy." I warned her.

"He's really that bad?" Serena asked me. She was wearing a red furisode with black lines jagging around, the middle of it black and an ash grey collar with ribbons wrapping loosely around her chest. Her hair was in a bob with the ends spiking out a bit, like it always was, but she had a black hairband in her honey hair. She had black high heels on with a red and black mask on her face.

"I just want to get away from him." I muttered. "So are you girls excited about the contest?" I changed the subject.

"I am! I am so excited Blue changed it!" Dawn exclaimed. She wore a black dress with a red sash around her waist and see through grey fabric wrapped around the bottom of her dress and over her sleeves. There was a pair of red clawed black wings in her back. Her collar was golden and she had gold heels on with a black and grey mask on. "It seems even better than that birthday party you girls threw for me a few days ago!"

"You should get going than. The contest is first, then the Showcase, the breeder's judging, and the Capture challenge before the tournament starts. I'm sure Blue has a ton more stuff planned, but I didn't remember it all." I told them.

"Are you entered in the contest too?" May asked.

"Me? No. I think I'll just stick with battles for now." I shook my head.

"Why don't you? We've seen you in class, you are amazing!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I don't want to barge in on your thing." I explained. "I would rather beat boys' butts at battling."

"Sounds good to me! Come on! We should head in!" Serena pulled us towards the entrance. We walked in and found that there was still room for people to move around in even though the entire school was in here. Even the teachers. I spotted Misty, dressed up as a Milotic, performing a water ballet show with her three sisters.

"I'll see you girls later!" I waved towards May and Dawn as they went over to get ready.

"So do you want to see the pokémon for the Breeder's judging?" I asked Serena.

"Sure!" She nodded. We walked over to where the breeders were showcasing their pokémon. Brock and other breeders were examining the pokémon, seeing which one was the best.

"You know, I like the way you told the legend earlier today, but you were a bit overdramatic." I pointed out.

"What? I'm a Performer! I have to be dramatic!" Serena joked, posing dramatically.

"But scaring the rangers seems a bit too much." I sweatdropped.

"You may be right. Ah, oh well." She shrugged.

"Hi Serena! Scarlett!" I spotted Lyra waving at us. She was wearing an outfit similar to Crystal's. She had a brown kimono-style dress with it going to grey at the bottom. I could see black sandals on her feet while her brown hair was flowing behind her back, a grey veil over it. Her obi was red with a bit of orange in it. On her forehead was a headdress shaped like a gold and red six point star, like on Entei, with the veil connected to it. Her mask was red and grey.

"Hi Lyra." I greeted her as she walked over. "Enjoying the gala so far?"

"Definitely! Blue made it for everyone! I'm so glad I volunteered for this!" she exclaimed.

"I think it was more like Blue forced us." Serena pointed out. At last, now they are starting to see it.

"Don't worry though. She's with that all the time with us, but she means no harm." I assured them. "Also, I know it's late notice, but Blue wants us to call each other by what pokémon we are. Stupid in my opinion."

"I like it! From now on, for the rest of the night, call me Entei!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Okay than." Serena laughed. "I am Yveltal." she bowed.

"You juniors are really crazy." I shook my head. "Well, if you're going along with this, than I'm Mew."

" _But I'm Mew!_ " Mew whined from inside her pokéball. Thank Arceus she did it through telepathy and I was the only one who could hear her. For now.

I ignored her and walked with Sere- I mean Yveltal and Entei, you know what, screw that. I'll only call them that when I'm talking to them. Anyways, the three of us walked over to where the contest was supposed to be.

It was being held at the battlefield directly across from the main entrance. That way, everyone will know where it would be. The coordinators were waiting to the side for their turn. The judges for the contest would be Blue, Gary, and one of one of the Nurse Joy's daughters, Rose Joy. In other words, she was the super pink peppy girl at the Kafé.

The MC is Jillian Meridian, daughter of Marian Meridian, niece to both Vivian and Lilian Meridian. Turns out, Marian, Vivian, and Lilian are all sisters. More like triplets. Vivian is the oldest, than Marian, and Lilian. I guess their job runs in the family. Helping Jillian MC would be her cousins, Killigan, Vivian's son, and Gilligan, Lilian's son. Those two would look like twin brothers if not for their mothers being sisters.

Getting back to the contest, everyone gathered around to watch it. About seventy kids signed up to be in the contest. After the appeals, only sixteen would move on to the battle rounds and then they would battle it out until a winner is decided.

Lyra pulled us to the front where we saw the contest about to start.

"On the night where the bond between earth and the unknown is weakest, The Pokespe Contest is about to begin!" Jillian announced as a spotlight shone on her. Her hair was just like her mother's, but it was longer, reaching her waist. She wore a Vaporeon costume with a blue mask on her face.

"Tonight, we have seventy two up and coming coordinators ready to present all of you with their skills." Another spotlight shone on Killigan right next to Jillian. His hair was the same color as his mother's and as curly, but it was cut just above his ears. He had a mole on the left side of his face and he had a Jolteon costume with a yellow mask on.

"But only one will have the honor with being presented with the first ever, Pokespe Ribbon!" A third spotlight shone on Gilligan on the other side of Jillian. He looked just like Killigan, but he had a mole on the right side of his face and wore a Flareon costume with an orange mask on. He held up a red, blue, and green ribbon with a yellow medal connecting it together in a bow.

"And now, let's introduce our judges!" Jillian exclaimed. "First up, the person who made this possible, Bl-"

"I said to call everyone by the pokémon name!"

"Err, Bl-Blastoise!" Jillian sweatdropped as a light shone on Blue who stood up from a table she was sitting at.

"Hello my loyal subjects!" Blue exclaimed. I sweatdropped along with the rest of our friends. "I am so honored to present all of you with this contest!"

"Next, the person we followed until a few weeks ago, G- I mean Venusaur!" Killigan announced as a spotlight shone on Gary, who stood up.

"Good luck." he said quickly. I'm sure he's embarrassed. For his costume, Gary wore a dark cyan blue suit with a leaf green dress shirt. He had a brown tie on and had an umbrella shaped like a Venusaur's flower tree leaves stuck to the back of his collar, having it hanging over his head. I have to admit, it does seem funny on him. He had a blue mask on the same color as his suit, but leaves were glued to the top of it.

"Finally, we have the sweetheart all of you must know, Ro- I mean Chansey!" Gilligan announced as a spotlight shone on said girl.

Rose hopped up in her seat in a Chansey costume. "Hello everyone! I'm sure to make my family proud and judge this contest with all I got!"

"And now, let get this contest started!" Jillian announced.

So the contest got started. Serena, Lyra, and I watched through all seventy two appeals. Dawn and May were both amazing and one of the most memorable since they were near the end. Ursula and Lisia looked like they were trying to one-up them, but they couldn't. We were allowed a little break once the appeals were over so the judges could choose who would move on. I sense that it would be hard for Blue to not play favorites here. But I'm sure Gary will keep her in check.

"So what do you guys think?" Serena asked Lyra and I. "I've been helping Giratina and Kyogre and they have been getting really good, right?"

"I'll say! Blastoise was just so cool with that move she did with her Hydro Pump and then that Rapid Spin and Ice Beam!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I think both of them have inspired each other." I nodded. "It looked like Lopunny's performance was based off of one of Ma- Kyogre's appeal in class."

"Do you think the rangers are enjoying the show?" Serena nudged me. She pointed to Kate and Summer standing near us with Lucy.

"Definitely." I smiled.

"Ohh! I see more of our friends!" Lyra also saw them. She rushed over to them and dragged them over here.

I was about to scolded her when Rhythmi came running up to us. She had on a royal blue dress that went to her knees with black tights and black heels. She had black gloves on that covered her entire hand and up to her armpits with a cream colored wrap around her arms. She had the appendages a Lucario would have in her hair and a blue and black mask on.

"There you guys were! Geez, I've been looking everywhere!" she exclaimed..

"We were just watching the contest until we got pulled over here." Kate explained. She wore a strapless golden pale yellow dress that had a shimmer with the colors blue, pink, and purple. See through light pink and pale blue fabric wrapped around her dress and a wrap around her arms. She wore pale pink heels with a pale blue and pale halo that seems to exert a golden aura around her head. She had a pale cream mask on with a pink outline.

"And I have to say, they are amazing!" Summer added. She wore a red and white dress that reached the floor with a white wrap around her arms with a headband with red spikes that looked similar to a Latias'. She wore a red mask with a white outline.

"If I wasn't going for a ranger, I'll probably go for a Coordinator instead!" Lucy nodded. She wore a strapless sea blue dress that went to her mid thighs. She wore blue ballet flats and gloves that went just under her armpits. She had on a necklace that was a gold chain and a red sea star pendant on it. Lucy had antennas like Manaphy's on a headband under her hair which she also left untied, with that, her hair just reached the floor, brushing it ever so slightly.

"So, Lucario, what do you need?" Serena asked her.

"Lucari-who?" Rhythmi looked at her.

"Bl-Blastoise told us we had to call each other by our pokémon we dressed up as." I explained. "If you didn't tell from her outburst during the beginning of the contest."

"Right! I think that's fun!" Lucy smiled.

"So, who do you think who's going to win?" Lyra asked.

"Definitely not Altaria or Camerupt." I shook my head. Everyone looked at me strangely. "Lisia and Ursula respectively."

"I agree. They are just giant show offs. They just repeated the same old moves every time and honestly, it's getting old. Especially with all the flashy moves they do. There is such a thing as too much." Serena rolled her eyes.

"Too true." Lucy nodded. "I may not be that much of an expert, but from what my brother told me, Dawn is way better that that awful Ursula! Whenever she's near big brother, I feel like I'm going to throw up!"

"Little girl has a point." Rhythmi nodded. "Even she knows what she's talking about!"

"Little girl has a name!" Lucy pointed out.

"Shh!" Summer hushed us. "It's about to start again!" We all looked up to see a screen light up. Hmm, why haven't we noticed that before? Sixteen cards was shown face down on it and one by one, they flipped over.

"And now, the sixteen contestants who will be moving on to the battles!" Jillian announced as the cards flipped over. Immediately, I spotted Dawn and May's masked faces on there. Unfortunately, Ursula and Lisia also made it.

"Yah! They made it!" Lyra cheered. "Go Giratina and Kyogre!"

"I know they would! They're so much better than those two." Serena snarled. We all know who she is directing that snarl to.

"Now, let's see if they're about to make it to the top." Rhythmi grinned.

"Ohh! It would be so cool if they went against each other in the finals!" Lyra gasped.

"It would be an interesting battle." I nodded. "Let's just watch."

So we did. Dawn, May, Ursula, and Lisia were about to make into the semifinals. Lisia went up against May and Dawn battled against Ursula. Lisia stuck to her Altaria while May was using her Glaceon. Ursula had her Garchomp ready to battle for her and Dawn had her Togekiss at her side.

May and Lisia went up first. The obvious type match up not only nabbed May the victory, but her combos absolutely crushed Lisia's attempt to outshine her. Then, it was Dawn and Ursula. As graceful as Togekiss was, it can be compared to the defeat Garchomp got. Togekiss dodged every one of Garchomp's attacks and was defeat him in one fell move. Honestly, these fangirls need to also think about type matchups.

Then it was the finals. May against Dawn. Blastoise against Lopunny (Yes, they are allowed to switch pokémon between battles). When the battle started, I didn't expect them to both Mega Evolve their pokémon first thing. But it did get the crowd roaring even louder.

"Well, there's nothing in the rulebook against it." Serena shrugged once they did. Anyways, the battle went on. It seemed like a close battle, but when the timer ran out of time, it was a tie. In the end, Dawn and May decided to split the ribbon with each other.

"Hey, it's not like it's an official contest where they can compete in the Grand Festival." Lyra grinned.

"It's for fun after all!" I added. Serena and Lyra went off to meet up with Dawn and May. The ranger girls hung back with me.

"So, what's next?" Lucy asked.

"The Showcase." Kate answered. "Boy, is it just me or is the night going by fast?"

"No, it's not." I shook my head. "The night has only just begun."

* * *

 **So this is the first of a very long Halloween arc. It actually last a couple of chapters so be sure to stay tuned!**

 **I know that it's a weird time for a Halloween arc, but that's how it ended up.**

 **Well, that's it. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	33. Halloween: Part Two

**Hello everyone! I'm not dead! I was just super busy, so I couldn't update!**

 **Let's get to the reviews!**

 **Lillian Smith: Thank you for noticing. I admit, I do mess them up all the time, but it's usually my autocorrect that tries to fix them. I go back and fix them, but there would be some that I would miss.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I know right! It's like that ghost story had nothing to do with the epic end I have planned for the mini arc! (insert sarcasm here)**

 **.18: I like to change the personality of the characters up a little bit. As for the ghost story, it only pertains to the mini arc adn has nothing to do with the overall story. And a ghost story with a killer in there for Halloween? It just seems fitting in my opinion.**

 **There's also a speical surprise in here! And for those who noticed in my previous chapter which series I keep on mentioning then you'll know who it is!**

 **Also, there is a little extra I've added in after the chapter in my A/N so don't miss that!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything else I refer to. I only own my own made up characters.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

 **Blue's POV**

Okay, this night is going good so far. The contest had an unexpected ending, but it seemed to please everyone. Well, almost everyone (if you know what I mean). Anyways, the Showcase is starting and the one hosting it is Gaston, Monsieur Pierre's son.

I snuck away from the excitement inside. There were stairs leading up to several balconies on the other floors. I climbed up a set of stairs leading to a balcony on the third floor. It was still a bit chilly outside.

Why did I have to wear a short dress? Oh right, it was the only one I could find that matched my costume. Maybe I should plan these types of things better. Now I get why the other girls are always questioning me, but it's not my fault. I always like to look my best. They might criticize my fashion sense, but at least I'm not like those fangirls who would openly expose their breasts whenever one of the boys walks past them. Ugh, it sickens me.

I adjusted the belt around my waist. I had no other place to keep my pokéballs until the tournament, and Ditty was already my choker on my neck. There is no way in hell that I am keeping my pokéballs in my bra like I suspect the other girls here would. I swear, even that's too much for me. I kept my Mega Locket tucked under my dress. The pokémon I was thinking of using were Blasty and Granbull. Hmm, I should really come up with a nickname for him. I'll deal with that when I come to it. But there are also my secret weapons for the tournament.

I leaned on the railing as I looked out on the forest surrounding the school. Everything just looks so dark. I can't tell where the forest ends and the ocean starts. I sighed. Everything lately has been so stressful. Silver, Lack, and Whi have even worked non-stop on checking the background on everyone at school, Crystal's getting too worked up for some reason, and Scarlett has been distant. What the hell is going on? What's happening to our family?

"Blue?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. I looked back towards the double doors leading to here to see Scarlett standing there. I quickly smiled at her. "I told you, it's Blastoise!"

"Whatever." she smiled as she rolled her eyes. "What are you doing out here? It's getting cold."

"Just needed a break. Judging is so much work." I replied.

"I'm sure it is," she said sarcastically. "What's the real reason?"

"What real reason?" I faked the shock. "I told it already, didn't I?"

"I know when you're lying. You and Yellow have been my closest friends ever since I joined our family." Scarlett replied. Damn it, even now, she knows me so well. Should I also tell her that we've also played with Amber sometimes when we were younger? No, I shouldn't until she knows what really happened with her family. If we ever find out.

"Alright, you got me. I was thinking about things." I admitted.

"What kind of things?" Scarlett walked up next to me.

"Just about everything crazy that's been going on." I sighed. "You heard that Silver, Lack, and Whi are researching every kid here, right?"

"It's obvious. Silver has been moodier than usual, Lack-Two has been on his laptop whenever we're working, and Whi-Two always goes up to her room early now," she replied. "But the one I can't figure out is Crys. I know she doesn't know about Lyra and vice versa, but she's been too submerged in her studies. It's only October. We don't that much so far."

"Speaking of which, what about you?" I asked her. "Where have you been in the last few weeks? You've been disappearing on us."

"I've just been a bit busy lately." she answered.

"With what?" I questioned her further.

"I decided to take up a few after school jobs. You know, to keep myself busy." she answered. "I even signed up for some cotillion classes on the weekends. I start them this weekend."

I found that...odd. She's just taking up jobs and classes out of nowhere. There must be a reasonable explanation for this. I know her better. Even when she's little, she would never try to waste extra time she could've spent training to do something else. All of this started when the homecoming dance happened. I heard from X; Satoshi texted her about something. I have to talk to him to get to the bottom of this.

"Oh really?" I raised a brow.

"Yes. Why are you so surprised at that?" she looked at me.

"It's just you haven't been interested in doing all this extra work before." I pointed out.

"I had a change of heart. I want to make this year of school something, you know. We're only here for this year and I'm sure this is going to be the only schooling we're ever going to get. I want to make the most of it." Scarlett shrugged. Total lie, but I have to go along with it.

"Oh, I see." I nodded. "Well, you're right! This is our only year of school and we have to make the most out of it! And, as my only year of presidency, I am determined to make it the best for everyone!" I exclaimed.

"What have I done?" Scarlett sighed. I knew she was kidding. I can tell people like that. It's one of my gifts. And knowing when someone is lying. You can't fool a master thief and actress like me!

"And the winner of the Pokéspe Princess Key is," I heard Gaston announced from inside in his Kalosian accent. "Yveltal! Number 717!"

"We were talking out here for a long time. The Showcase is already over. And Serena won. That's great." I pointed out.

"Oui. Nous étions ici pour une heure. Nous avons parlé depuis sept heures. Je dois parler à Serena. Je sais Aurore, Flora, et Célesta lui parleront. Elles seront très contentes parce que tout le monde ont gagné tes compétitions. Je ne les ai pas gagnées si je suis entrée. Je ne suis pas bien." Scarlett said.

"Uh, what?" I looked at her confused.

"Oh, I guess I went too far." Scarlett blushed from embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I slip into Kalosian sometimes if I hear it or a thick accent."

"It's fine. What did you say, anyway?" I asked her.

"I just said that we've out here for a while and Serena's friends are probably going to talk to her. If I entered, I wouldn't have won," she explained.

"Did you say that exactly?" I asked.

"No. Just paraphrasing." She shook her head. "But you get the idea."

"I do." I nodded. "Let's head back inside. I'm freezing."

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

"How long until the breeders are going to be done?" Rhythmi asked me.

"I don't know. Maybe about a few more minutes. The Showcase ended ten minutes ago. They should be almost done." I answered her.

"I hope. I went to see the other stuff this gala has to offer." she sighed. "What pokémon are you going to use in the tournament?"

"I have the three on me," I told her. "Chuchu, Gravvy, and Omny."

"Are they strong?" Rhythmi asked.

"Not really. I'm not much of a battler. I like to stand by and help others, but I will battle if I need to." I explained.

"That's a nice change of pace. Almost all of your friends seem like a hardcore battler." Rhythmi noted.

"They are, but they're all different in their own way. It's nice though." I replied.

"I would suspect it." Rhythmi giggled. I looked up to see Kate waving her over. "Sorry, but I have to go, but I'll see you later!" she stood up from the table we were sitting at and walked over to Kate.

I sighed as I adjusted the mask on my face. The night has been so fun so far. Blue really has done a great job. Everyone seems to like it too. Even those fangirls.

"Hi there!"

"Oh!" I jumped a bit when I heard someone right behind me. I turned around and saw a pale blonde girl with Pidgeot wings on her back. She had a tan windbreaker on with a pair of cream pants and matching flats. She had a mask of a Pidgeot's plume on her face.

"Sorry to startle you." she apologized.

"It's fine. I was a bit jumpy before." I reassured her. Arceus, I didn't hear her behind me!

"What's the matter? It's a party, isn't it? Shouldn't everyone be relaxed?" she asked me.

"Some people might, but not me." I grabbed a handful of hair in my right pigtail but just started to comb my hand through.

"Why?" Pidgeot Girl asked.

"I'm helping my friend out with this really big project and it's actually taking a toll on all of my friends too." I explained. What? It's not a total lie.

"Hope you survive." she joked.

"Thanks." I smiled. "Hey, I really like your costume. It looks so realistic." I commented.

"Thank you. It took a lot of work to make them look like this." she replied. "You look cute like that. What's your name?"

"Aren't we supposed to wait for the end of the night to tell each other our names?" I recalled.

"Actually, my family and I are going to be leaving soon. We're not going to be here for the unmasking," she explained.

"Oh. I'm Yellow." I told her. "Yellow del Bosque Verde."

"Max. Maximum Ride." she stuck her hand out. Okay, so maybe Scarlett was telling the truth about the movies. They are real!

"Nice to meet you!" I masked my shock by shaking her hand.

"Same here." she let go of my hand.

"Pikachu!" I winced when I heard the high pitched voice. I looked around to see Blue with the rest of the girls from our house.

"Geez, make us all deaf, why don't you?" White glared at her.

"Max?" Scarlett asked Max.

"Hmm? Oh, hey!" she waved towards Scarlett.

"You're sticking with your favorite pokémon?" Scarlett asked her.

"Yep!" Max smiled.

"Excuse me, but do you two know each other?" Crystal asked.

"Girls, this is Max. You know, the one I told you about?" Scarlett hinted. I'm guessing they all got it since they all went wide-eyed. "I met her while I was walking around the town. She and I became fast friends."

"You're all Scarlett's friends?" Max asked us.

"We are. And we're friends with the boys in the building next to us. In fact, we'll all foster siblings!" Blue explained.

"That's cool. I also have foster siblings, but in my case, it's a bit more complicated." Max explained.

"That's fine," I told her. Knowing a person's full history is very weird. Especially since they're right in front of you.

"What are you doing for the rest of the night?" Blue asked her.

"Actually, my family and I have to leave before the night is over. Sorry about that. I'm sure all of you put a lot of work into this." Max said sheepishly.

"It's fine. Friends are important, but family is even more important." Scarlett said wisely. I looked at her. She never said anything like that before. Isn't she still unhappy with Red?

 _Ring!_

"Speaking of which, that might be my brother." Max picked up the pokégear around her waist. "Hello? Hey Iggy. Now? I'll be right there. By the way, I'm bringing some friends. Hmm? Of course, they can keep a secret. I trust them." Max glanced us a look. "Okay. Bye."

"You're leaving now?" White asked her.

"Yep, but I want to guys to see us off. I'm sure you won't forget it." Max winked.

We all looked at each. What's the harm in it?

"Okay, we'll come," Blue spoke for us. Max led the way through the crowd of people. We eventually reached the highest balcony in the building. When we got up there, I saw that the boys were there too

A teenage boy with pitch black hair and a Honchkrow costume and matching wings on his back was holding the hand of a little girl who looks barely older than four. She had blue-black hair with a matching dress that looks like a Murkrow with the same color wings on her back. Both of them wore the same blue-black masks.

Sitting on the edge of the balcony railing were two other boys, two more girls, and a Zorua. The tallest boy had a Staraptor costume on with a matching mask and wings on his back. The younger boy had a Fearow costume on and a pair of matching wings on his back as well. The youngest had a pure white dress on with wings worthy of only a Swanna. The other girl looked only a few years older than her and she had a dress on that looked like a Talonflame with matching wings too.

"Great, you both brought people." the Zorua complained. Wait, what?! Did it just talk?!

"Total, don't be so rude." the Swanna girl scolded him.

"You should at least set an example of being nice for Fifi." the Talonflame girl added.

"And your people are who?" the Honchkrow boy asked Max.

"The people who helped make this little get-together possible. And I have to say, I'm impressed." Max answered.

"Mama!" the Murkrow girl let go of Honchkrow boy's hand and hugged Max.

"Hey there, baby girl. Ready to go?" she asked.

"We've been ready for like half an hour. Can we go now?" the Fearow boy asked.

"Go on ahead. We just have some things to wrap up here." Max nodded.

"Let's go Gazzy." the Staraptor boy spread out his wings. He jumped up and his wings started to flap. He flew out a few dozen yards before stopping and hovering there, looking back at us. The Fearow boy followed his lead and flew up as well, with his wings on his back. The Swanna girl and Talonflame girl did the same with the Zorua showing off little wings on his own on his back and took off after them.

"What the he-" Crystal slapped a hand over Gold's mouth.

"Heck just happened." Lack-Two finished for him.

"So I was right. I knew it." a smile formed on Scarlett's face.

"Told you writing those books under that anonymous name wouldn't work." Honchkrow boy said.

"Who asked you, Fang?" Max looked over at him. "I could've just called you Fnick in there!"

"Then I would call you Maxine." Fang retorted.

"I hate to interrupt this lover's quarrel, but can one of you just please tell me why winged kids who were supposed to be on the run are right here, in front of us?" X asked them. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

"We got bored." Fang shrugged.

"We really have to go, but being here really taught me something," Max said. "Friends become family. And family is all that matters." Max winked before she picked up her daughter and flew off to meet with the rest of her flock. Fang followed her lead and the last we saw of them was the seven of them flying towards the moon in a V formation.

"Well," Emerald broke the silence. "Was it just me or was that just plain random?"

"When you're older, kid. You'll know." Blue placed a hand on his head.

"And the winner of the Breeders' Competition is, Ho-oh! Number 250!" the announcer from inside shouted.

"Sorry, guys, but that's my cue! I knew Togebo would win!" Gold rushed inside.

I looked around. Everyone else was just looking after where the flock flew off to. I guess Scarlett was absolutely right after all. Speaking of which, where is she? I don't see her anywhere up here. I guess she must have gone back inside.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I walked away from everyone else. No one even noticed. I guess that was good. I just focused on getting back lower to the ground.

While I was walking down the sets of stairs, I just couldn't get Max's words out of my head. Weren't my friends already my family? I thought they mattered of course. But there is my dad. He's my family for as long as I remembered. We've been through rough times, but he's there for me and I'm there for him. I know that I won't leave him. Not again.

I walked around the ballroom on the balcony on the second floor overlooking the entire first floor below. Gold was rushing upstage to get his trophy. You know, if he ever gets tired of battling, he would be a good breeder.

I guess it was sad to see Max off. She was a good friend for the short while I knew her. She certainly made working at that place somewhat better. I wouldn't think of having a friend like her ever leaving, but what the books said was true. I just wish she would introduce us to her flock more properly.

Once the stage got cleaned up, the announcer started to call up the rangers for the Capture Challenge. The announcers were a pair of Top Rangers, the highest rank a Ranger can get. They were a girl with blue hair and a male with navy blue hair. The girl was in a Plusle costume while the male was in a Minun one. I recognize them as Solana, the female, and Lunick, the male, from the stories Kate and the others tell me whenever we meet up.

I saw Kate, Kellyn, Summer, Ben, and Keith walk up there as they were called by their numbers. I didn't notice it before, but they each had a School Styler strapped to their wrists. I guess they hid them somewhere until this came up. As much as I want to watch my friends compete in this brand new competition, I have a feeling of being compressed by all this excitement and people. I made my way to a balcony on the second floor. I stepped out and took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air.

I slowly walked over to the railing. I placed my hand on the cold stone and looked up at the night sky. The night sky was pitch black, but it was dotted with shining stars everywhere. I felt my ears twitch as someone stepped out on the same railing. I knew I should've have let Mew give me real ears and a real tail.

I tried to keep the tail as still as I could as I turned around. I saw it was just X. He was dressed in a royal blue blazer over a black dress shirt and matching dress pants. His tie was a light blue while he had a pale yellow mask with rainbow highlights in there. He was standing idly there, staring at me.

I chose to ignore him and turned back around. I placed an elbow on the railing and placed a hand under my chin as I leaned on the railing. Despite being in a dress, I still feel okay. It wasn't that cold outside. All of a sudden, I felt a piercing pain in my tail. I jumped up and let out a small squeak. I turned back around to see X standing closer. I held my tail close to me and glared at him.

"What the hell was that for?!" I glared at him.

"I had a suspicion." he shrugged.

"About what?" I continued to glare at him.

"That that tail was real," X answered.

"That still didn't give you a reason to grab it that hard. It really hurts." I hid my tail behind me.

"So how did you get it?" X asked.

"Guess." I rolled my eyes.

"Mew?" he asked.

"She just popped right in my room. When she saw my costume, she changed the fake ears and tail to real ones. But I made her promise to get rid of them when the night was over." I explained.

"And is there any reason you're out here?" X asked.

"I just wanted to be alone. Is that a crime?" I retorted.

"You seemed a bit... distant lately." X countered. "Want to tell why?"

"What is this? An interrogation? I've been busy." I shot back.

"With what?" X asked. Arceus, he's getting on my nerves so much right now.

"I don't have to tell you." I retorted. I felt my pokégear vibrate and took it out. I saw that someone sent me a message.

 _From: Ash Ketchum_

 _To: Scarlett Sacha_

 _Hey there! They just announced the rules for the tournament. We have to pair up with someone for the preliminaries and up to the quarterfinals. I know that we haven't battled together at all, but I know we can be an unbeatable team! Wanna battle with me for this?_

Partners? I never really thought about Ash and I battling together. He always paired up with one of his friends when we have to in class, but this does seem like a good experience for me. Though we never worked together, I have seen him battle and his methods can work well with mines. I texted him back, accepting his offer.

"Hey, I just heard about the rules for the tournament." X started.

"Just got paired up with Ash. Sorry." I stopped him.

"You're battling with Ash?" X asked me. He seemed a bit panicky.

"Yeah. What's the matter with that?" I replied. "Does it bother you that I'm battling with another boy? Are you jealous or something?"

"Jealous?! What the hell are you talking about?!" he turned his face into one of fury.

I smirked. "Relax, I'm only kidding. Arceus, you're too easy to mess with."

"At least I'm not keeping secrets." X turned away from me. "I thought we promised not to."

Great, now I feel bad. "X," I said softly. "There is something I want to tell you, but I can't. It's between my father and me and I can't break that bond. It would ruin the friendship I have with all of you. I'm sorry if I seem distant. I have just been a bit stressed lately. I can't focus on anything else."

"Then why are you pushing yourself so hard? You need a break once in awhile." X said.

"I can't. I don't have the time." I replied. "Besides, I don't know what I would do."

"Are you free this weekend?" X suddenly asked.

"What?" I looked up at him. "Oh! Um, I'm not busy Saturday afternoon." I blushed. My class with Cynthia is in the morning.

"You better make yourself look good them. I'm taking you out then." X winked. Did he just say what I think he said?

"D-Do you mean as a d-date?" I blushed even harder. Arceus, why is this happening to me now?!

"Of course." X nodded. "We shared a lot of kisses already, but not one date. I say we start with one here."

"D-don't you think it's a bit sudden? Y-you know how Blue is." I stuttered. Come on Ashley! Control yourself! You're sounding like a total fool!

"Who cares about what she says?" X walked up and leaned on the railing next to me. "We haven't that much alone time since we first got here and the date is a nice place to start." X shrugged.

I tried to control my blushing, but I can't! X is making this so hard! I know I'm engaged to Mason, but X is so sweet to me! Do I have feelings for him? Oh Arceus, tell me what to do!

My dad said, since this is an arranged marriage, I'm free to date up until the wedding. Would it be wrong to date someone while I'm engaged? Mason is more like a confidant and best friend while X is...

Actually, I don't know what X is. I know we're friends, but are we more? We say we're family, but look at Max and Fang, they got together! And they said they were siblings! Good thing we didn't say that. We're only foster siblings, not blood-related.

Is it possible that I like X. As in like, like? I don't know. I am so confused right now. There are so many things in the dark, I don't know what to think. What if I lead him on though? What if I fall in love with him? How can I honor the agreement my family has if I can't go through with it?

"It will be nice! I can't wait to hang out with you on that date!" I suddenly said. What the hell?! That wasn't me. I am as sure as Arceus created the universe know that I did not say that out of my own free will. That only explanation is, Mew! That pink cat! Just you wait!

"Nice to know that you agreed to that so suddenly," X said, uncertain.

"You know me! Always saying whatever comes to mind." I played along. "So! We're still on Saturday afternoon?"

"Um sure. I'll pick you up at two." X said. "Don't go too overbroad. Just dress naturally."

"You are not one to give me fashion advice." I scoffed.

"Whatever." Suddenly, I felt his lips on mines. He gave me that sudden quick kiss before heading back inside. "See you then."

I felt my face heat up again. Literally, I think my face is completely red.

" _Ashley and Calem, sitting in a tree..."_ Mew and Rio sang together.

"Shut up the both of you!" I shouted out loud.

" _K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_ they sang louder.

"Why do I even bother?" I sighed.

 _Ring!_

I nearly fell over the railing when my pokégear rang. I juggled with it for a few seconds, trying to calm down, before I saw who was calling. It was Ash. I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Scarlett! Where are you? The tournament's about to start!" he exclaimed.

"Ah! I'll be right there!" I exclaimed. I hung up and dashed inside. Good thing I'm wearing flats or else I would've tripped down the stairs. I had to pick up some of my dress so I wouldn't trip on that, however. But I made it to the bottom in one piece.

When I got to the first floor, I already saw people getting into pairs while the winner of the Capture Competition was being crowded.

"Just admit it, I'm better than you!" I looked over to see Keith arguing with Kate. Summer and Ben were behind them both holding a silver medal. Kellyn was behind his sister holding a bronze medal. Keith and Kate both had a gold medal in their hands.

"We tied! That doesn't mean you're better than me!" Kate retorted.

"But I captured more pokémon than you did!" Keith whined.

"It's about points. Not how many you can capture!" Kate countered. I shook my head at them. Guess I know who won now.

I drew my attention away from them to Ash when I spotted him waving at me frantically. I waved back and rushed over to him. I had to push a few people out of the way, but I made over to him.

"Sorry about getting here a bit late. I was busy." I told him as I panted.

"No problem. You got here just in time." he grinned. He was wearing an orange suit with a yellow dress shirt. He had Charizard wings attached to his suit on the back and horns in his hair. Ash had an orange mask over his face.

"Do we have to sign up or anything?" I asked him.

"Already did." Ash nodded.

"Wow." I laughed. "I never thought you would remember to do that."

"I've been told I have to so I've been practicing too." Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer said. I looked up. It was the grandson of the Pokémon League's President, Charles Goodshow III. "We have all of the pairs and now, the match ups for the preliminaries will show up on the screen!"

On the screen behind him, several cards with the pictures of the different pairs showed up. I wonder how they were able to get the pictures for them. I know I didn't pose with Ash for any of them. Wait a second. I did when we were getting this ready and looking at each other's costumes. Blue must have taken the photo and used it. Oh, it's fine anyway.

"Remember! The preliminaries will only last for one round before it goes to the Tag Battle rounds! When it's down to four pairs, that's when the Single Battles begin and the pairs are split up! Now! May everyone please go to their designated battlefield?" Charles announced.

"We're on Red #2." I told Ash as I looked up at our picture.

"I think that's over there." Ash pointed to a nearby battlefield. As everyone was in a rush, we had to hold hands to make sure we wouldn't get separated. When I first touched his hand, I felt a shock go through me.

 _"_ _Hey! Check this out!"_

 _"_ _What is it?"_

 _"_ _I don't know, but it's cool, right?"_

 _"_ _I don't know..."_

 _"_ _I'm gonna touch it!"_

 _"_ _Wait! Don't!"_

 _"_ _Aaahhhhhh!"_

 _"_ _No!"_

"Hey, are you okay?" Ash looked back at me.

"I'm fine." I smiled. "Let's get going." Ash led the way over to the battlefield. I couldn't stop thinking about that shock. It was different than the rest but familiar. I don't know. I don't know how to describe it. It had the same feeling I have whenever I'm with Ash. Is there a connection? I shouldn't worry about it right now. We have some battling to do.

"Yep. This is our battlefield." Ash nodded when we got to the battlefield. "I think our opponents are here." he pointed to the other side of the field.

"Isn't that Misty and Brock?" I asked him.

"Looks like it." Ash nodded.

"Gym Leaders are allowed to enter these things?" I asked out loud.

"Attention all contestants." I heard Blue's voice over the speakers. "I forgot to mention that everyone at school, including the staff and our new Almian students, are allowed to be in this tournament!"

"That answers your question." Ash looked at me when Blue was done.

"Let's meet them and get this battle started with." I told him. He nodded and we walked to the middle of the battlefield. Misty and Brock walked towards the middle as well. Misty was in her Milotic costume while Brock was in a Golem one. We shook hands before going to our respective sides on the battlefield.

"Now, since everyone is ready!" Charles announced, "The preliminaries will have each trainer using one pokémon each. Rounds up to the quarterfinals, trainers will use two pokémon each. Quarterfinals and up, they will use all three of their pokémon. Now let's get this tournament started!"

"Sol, set for battle!"

"Sceptile, I choose you!"

"Wash them away, Starmie!"

"Shake it up, Geodude!"

We all called out our pokémon at the exact same time.

"Well, we're at a huge disadvantage," Misty commented. "And you couldn't even evolve your Geodude?!"

"He was at the gym! Forrest was taking care of him!" Brock yelled at Misty.

"You're using your head for once, nice job." I smirked at Ash.

"Good call on your Absol." Ash commented.

"Argh! You better hope we don't get knocked out in one hit!" Misty yelled.

"Sceptile has a better chance at Geodude than Sol does. Besides, she's better off with Starmie." I told Ash.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ash nodded. "Sceptile, Leaf Blade on Starmie!"

I raised a brow, but then I realized what he was doing. "Sol! Night Slash on Geodude!"

"Defense Curl and Rollout!" Brock yelled out.

"Starmie, use Psyshock!" Misty yelled.

Geodude rolled up into a ball and started to spin, heading towards Sol. Starmie summoned up five balls of psychic energy from the points on its body. It shot the five orbs of blue-pink energy towards Sceptile.

"Now! Switch!" Ash and I yelled.

"What?!"

As they were running next to each other. Sceptile and Sol jumped up at the same time and to the opposite side. Sceptile's leaves on its arms glowed a bright green as it slashed at Geodude. Sol's horn glowed a black color as it charged towards Starmie. She ignored the Psyshock as they crashed into them. She kept running though since they didn't affect Sol. She slammed her horn into Starmie's red gem core.

Sceptile and Sol jumped back to our side of the field. I looked over and saw Starmie fainted with her cracked gem core flashing red and Geodude also fainted with swirls in his eyes.

"And that's how we do it!" Ash grinned.

"I told you! Now you're gonna pay for making us lose!" Misty yelled at Brock.

"Me?! Your Starmie also fainted in one hit!"" he yelled back.

"Don't you dare blame it on me!"

"Then get off my case, woman!"

"You're lucky you're not a taste of my mallet!"

"Have you ever heard of respecting your elders?!"

"You're only five years older than me!"

"You still should respect me!"

"So, do you just want to go and leave them to duke it out here?" I asked Ash as we returned our pokémon.

"They'll take a while, so sure." he nodded.

We quietly left the battlefield as Misty and Brock continued to argue. I wonder how they would be as a couple? Ash and I waited in the middle with other pairs who finished their battles, but there weren't that much. I looked up at the big screen to see pairs getting eliminated. Looks like all of our friends are going to get to the next rounds. Which is good, I guess, but that also means we could be going against each other.

I thought back to the agreement X and I made. If we're going to be on a date, then should I tell him about my condition?

* * *

 **And that would be the last of the flock. Trust me. That was their last appearance. From here on out, only Pokemon characters unless I make a parody of something else and put it in as an easter egg.**

 **But, here is the little extra I promised you! A little info on the Anime gang and the ranger kids!**

 **Ash Ketchum (May 22)- spectated to be Ash's birthday based on how the first episode of the anime was aired on April 1 and his journey starting exactly 10 months and 10 days after his 10th birthday. Also it's the same as Ashley's birthday.**

 **Gary Oak (November 22)- same as Green Oak's birthday in the manga.**

 **Lyra Kotone (April 30)- same as Crystal's birthday.**

 **May Maple (September 20)- same as Sapphire Birch's birthday in the manga.**

 **Brendan Birch (July 2)- same as Ruby's birthday in the manga.**

 **Dawn Berlitz (October 27)- same as Platinum Berlitz's birthday in the manga.**

 **Lucas Kouki (April 4)- same as Diamond's birthday in the manga.**

 **Barry Jun (June 6)- same as Pearl's birthday in the manga.**

 **Serena Gabena (December 21)- was thought to be the day Earth was going to end in 2012 based off of the Mayan calander.**

 **Their pokemon teams are based off of their anime teams, but since they have caught more than six pokemon, expect them to switch them out every so often. A few of their manga pokemon will show up as well in order to have more variety and fill in more spots on their teams. Also, Sun and Moon will make an appearance, but I will make their information known when their first appearance comes up.**

 **Kate Kurai (December 1)- same as her manga birthday. Partner pokemon is Artemis, a female Pachirisu.**

 **Kellyn Kurai (December 1)- same as Kate's manga birthday because they are twins. Partner pokemon is Apollo, a male Pachirisu.**

 **Keith Dazzle (January 29)- same birthday as in ATiL. Partner pokemon is Hydro, a male Buizel.**

 **Rhythmi Valentine (February 14)- same as Valentine's Day. 'Partner' pokemon is Telepath, a female Solosis.**

 **Isaac Iori (June 2)- same as Avogardo's number (6.02E23). 'Partner' pokemon is Logy, a Porygon.**

 **Summer Manami (June 20)- first day of summer. Partner pokemon is Rin, a shiny female Pichu with a blue flower behind her ear.**

 **Ben Natsuya (March 20)- first day of spring. Partner pokemon is Len, a spiky ear male Pichu with a ukulele on his back.**

 **I hope you all enjoy that! Until next time, review and live life!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	34. Halloween: Part Three

**Hi everyone! Thank you for your patience while waiting for this update!**

 **I know I said this before, but I am sorry. Life actually has been a bit busy for me espeically with school coming up soon and sports taking hold again.**

 **Enough complaining. Time for the reviews!**

 **.18: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! This is actually one of my favorite arcs in the story.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: It may or it may not. You just have to wait and see!**

 **And I'm not sure if I mentioned this last chapter, but we actually crossed 10,000 views! Thanks you so much for your support! As a budding writer, I never thought I would get this much attention for a story!**

 **Time for the chapter!**

 **Discalimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything I refer to. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

 **Crystal's POV**

"Now! Double Solar Beam!" Lyra and I called out together. Megaree and Lyra's Meganium, Megapyon, unleashed the built up power sun rays in their petals and it morphed into a highly concentrated beam of sunlight, heading right towards Whitney's Clefairy and Maylene's Medicham. When the blast hit them, both of the pokémon were knocked out.

"No!" Whitney cried out. "Sissy! Do something! They fainted Clefairy!"

"Geez, get a hold of yourself!" Maylene yelled at her. "You're not a little kid! Grow up! I can't be your big sister all the time! Stand up for yourself!"

"Let's get out of here before it the battlefield gets flooded." I said as I recalled Megaree.

"I agree. She's a bigger crier than I am." Lyra nodded her head. She returned her pokémon as Maylene was shaking Whitney off of her leg. We walked off the battlefield and to the middle of the ballroom. Almost everyone was done with their very first battles. Just a few more and we'll be off to the rounds.

"Hey, Crys." Lyra tapped my shoulder. I looked at her. "Why did you choose me as your partner? I'm sure there are plenty of people you want as your partner."

"The only people I want to be paired with are my friends, but I'm sure everyone has someone else they have in mind and I have never battled with you before, so I am sure that this would be a nice time to try it out." I explained.

"Wow! That's so nice! Not many people are willing to be paired up with me for anything!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Don't look too much into it," I told her. "We have some time to rest before the next part comes up."

I think she said something after that, but I zoned her out. I just can't get my mind off the evidence I found a while ago. I know it was a bit wrong of me to go looking at it so much, but I couldn't leave it alone.

During one of my classes, I was finding the DNA of a Sentret, but it turned up human DNA, not pokémon DNA. I looked at the sample again and saw that it was a strand of Lyra's hair. It must have landed somewhere and the data was entered into the computer. Anyway, it said that her DNA was practically the same as mines.

I was shocked by this and defying everything I believe in to not do anything illegal, I looked at Lyra's history. I learned so much about her, but her family was a bit hazy since she was adopted and those records were encrypted. I'm not advanced enough to do those types of things. I learned about her history about her journey though. Coincidentally, our paths were different so we never crossed.

My mother never mentioned anything about a sister or anything and I really want to ask her about it, but I don't want to until I'm definite about our possible relation. Lyra has the same birthday as me as well as the same hometown. I could access the hospital for the birth records, but that seemed too Blue-ish. I just have to settle on figuring this out on my own. I just hope no one else knows about this. I would hate for Lyra to find out.

Though she might as well be, she is like a sister to me. I know we haven't really been that close, but in truth, we are. In class, we stand up for each other whenever those fangirls accuse us of something. She would tell Quartz off while I would make Mercury feel inferior. I know it's wrong, but it's right. I never really showed myself hanging around Lyra that much, but I do. She helps me relax if and when I need it and I help her study by tutoring her.

True, she might not be the most powerful, but I'm not either. We're not the best at battling, I get that, but she's like the other half of me who I never got to meet.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I looked up at the screen again. Only half of the people were finished. We still have a bit of time left. I spotted Mason walked by with his partner, Dan. I looked over at Ash and saw that he was busy with his own thing.

If I'm going to be married to Mason, I might as well tell him my secret. I sneaked away from Ash and followed Mason. I found him near one of the tables and he was alone. I guess Dan went off somewhere.

"Hey." I greeted him.

"Hi." he nodded back when he spotted me.

"Isn't this party nice?" I asked him.

"It is. Glad I picked this school to go to." he said.

"Yeah and when it's over, we'll still have each other." I said quietly.

"That's another good thing." Mason nodded.

"But before that happens, I need to tell you something about me." I said. "Sorry if it's sudden."

"It's no problem. Tell me. What is it?" Mason asked.

I bit my bottom lip. I don't know how to just tell him this so I grabbed a napkin from the table and a nearby pen that got abandoned. I quickly jot down an address on it. I held it out to Mason. "Here; show this to my father and tell him I gave it to you. Bring your parents. The three of you need to know this."

"Um okay." he accepted the napkin from me. Suddenly, I got another text on my pokégear. I looked at it and saw the message.

 _From: Dad_

 _To: Ashley_

 _I know you're enjoying the gala and all, but I just have a favor to ask you. And this was not my idea, trust me. I know you and Mason have already agreed to the marriage, but just in case it doesn't work out somehow (which I don't believe in since I know you two go along so well) you should have someone as a backup. You know? A fiancé in case you and Mason don't work out somehow or something happens. So yeah. Your other potential candidate will meet you on the balcony near the front door on the second floor._

I sighed. Of course. But I'm not complaining. As long as it's not Vincent. I excused myself from Mason and walked towards the meeting spot. People were still battling so I still have some time. I walked out on the balcony and waiting for my other possible groom-to-be.

* * *

 **Gary's POV**

I sighed. Gramps just texted me about a marriage meeting. I couldn't believe he picked now of all times. But I agreed anyway and went to meeting spot he said where she would be. I was able to get Blue off of my case for this, but I'm sure she'd get back on later. I stopped right outside the door leading to the balcony. My eyes widen as my lips parted in a small gasp.

There, on the balcony, dressed in pink with blonde hair paled by the moon, was the girl who I never thought would agree to anything like this. She was staring out at the moon, making her red eyes gleam like her father's, but I know that it's not her true eye color. No. They should be the same eyes as my best friend with her hair dark as the night sky she's looking into.

The memories I thought I have forgotten, they're coming back to me now. All the good times we had and all the bad. The time where we vowed to be friends together and never drift apart. Man, that seems to be so long ago. How funny it is to see such a simple promise be snatched away.

Ashley, Scarlett. I don't know what to call her in this instance. She turned towards the door. She couldn't see me that well so she couldn't know it was me. The curtains on the door fluttered with the wind so it was hard to see through them to me. Her face was tanned, like Ash, but it didn't show that same fun he had. I know that she didn't remember any of us. And she shouldn't. As much as it pains me, the truth must be hidden. Until it is time.

I turned away from the door and pressed my back against one of the walls. My bangs covered my eyes as I pulled out my pokégear.

 _From: Gary_

 _To: Gramps_

 _Sorry Gramps, but I can't do it. I don't care if you beg me, but I am not going through with this meeting. But I want a meeting with you. And during that, don't even try to lie to me about anything. I want the truth._

With that, I closed my pokégear and walked away. I'm not losing my friend again.

* * *

 **Emerald's POV**

"Wow! That was harder than I expected!" Yellow exclaimed as we walked off of our battlefield, finished with our battle.

"Hey, come on. We just won against two Elite Four members!" I cheered her up.

"Well, you are right. That was a plus side." she nodded.

"Now, I guess we should meet up with the others. Looks like almost all of them are done." I pointed up to the screen. It's true. All of our friends, Ash's gang, and the ranger kids we made friends with all passed. Wait, the rangers actually won their battles?!

"You guys actually won?!" Gold exclaimed once we walked up to them.

"Don't be rude!" Blue slapped him upside the head.

"Um, didn't you just say you got your Partner Pokémon recently?" White asked them.

"We did, but it looks like they're already strong!" Kate exclaimed.

"Lucky for us then. Huh?" Kellyn rubbed the back of his head.

"Guess so." I shrugged. I shouldn't tell them that Blue made me give the ranger kids we're friends with more powerful pokémon than the others got because she wanted to see how they would battle, but they seem to be doing well so far.

"Hey, where have you been?" X asked. I looked at who he was talking to and saw it was Scarlett. She was just coming to join our group.

"I was just getting some fresh air." she answered.

"Just like last time?" X raised a brow. I swear, Scarlett turned her name when he said that.

"Argh! Please! If you're going to be that way, do it somewhere else! It's disgusting!" for once, that wasn't me. It was Max. The 'May's little brother' Max. Not the Max who sprouted wings and flew off with her daughter.

"Better yet, stop it completely. I'm serious. You're making me gag." I told X and Scarlett.

"Have either of you ever heard of respecting your elders?" May slapped the both of us upside the head.

"Ever heard of being nice to your little brother?" Max retorted.

"And where have you been?" Blue spoke up. I looked up and saw Blue glaring at Gary who also just walked up to us.

"Nowhere." he answered. He seems different somehow. Usually, he would be more annoyed at Blue.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen!" Charles announced. "The preliminaries are over and the pairs who are going on to the rounds are determined! Now, let's give the cards a shuffle and see the bracket!" he threw his hand towards the screen and all of the cards with our pictures on them flipped over. They all came together in a deck and they all went back out. They ended up on the bottom and top of the screen where there were lines connecting them. They all flipped over.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I heard Scarlett mumbled. I looked at her card and saw that it was right next to Jade and Quartz.

"And it looks like we're on the other side of the screen." X told her. "Maybe we can see each other in the finals."

"I don't know. After all, she's paired up with me. She could battle me." Ash pointed out.

"Well, she is going to battle you anyhow." Serena spoke up. She was X's partner.

"What do you mean?" White asked.

"When it's going to the split partners, each partner will have to battle against each other," Lack-Two explained. "Or was it partners from other pairs go against one another?

"Then that means we might have to go against each other." Whi-Two looked at her sister.

"If you can make it past everyone else. Do you see the rest of the cards?" Silver pointed out.

"Lance? Satoshi? Steven and Cynthia?! We're never going to get past them!" Yellow exclaimed.

"Just believe in yourself. We can get through." I reassured her.

"Emerald, look at who we're against first." she told me. I looked up and saw it was Opal and Violet. "Oh. Yeah. She does have a grudge against you. Hey! And after that, we might go against Lance and Clair!"

"It's official! We're dead! Everyone, it has been good to know you all." Yellow complained.

"Cheer up, Yellow!" Ash patted her back. Rather hard though she since was about to fall forward. "You'll get through it! I know you can!"

"T-Thanks, Ash." I could see Yellow blush. Oh, not another one!

* * *

 **Normal POV**

Scarlett and Ash made their way to their assigned battlefield as the others did as well. Already waiting for them on the battlefield were Jade and Quartz.

"How cute. Couldn't handle X and now you're going after Opal's target? She's going to be mad. And you won't like her mad." Jade taunted.

"Just wait till I wipe the floor with you." Scarlett retorted. "Rio, show her what you got!"

* * *

"May I go after Scarlett?" Opal asked Violet.

"Why would you want to do that?" she asked her. Opal pointed to Scarlett's battlefield. "Save it for later." Violet told her. "We have Yellow to deal with here."

* * *

"White, how long do you think this is going to take?" Whi-Two asked her sister.

"Not long. Trust me. Ebony and Ivory won't stand up against to me and you." she answered.

"You mean 'you and me'." Whi-Two corrected.

"Is this really a time for a grammar lesson?!" White shouted.

* * *

"Alright, where are the sad saps who are stuck with us?" Blue looked around for their opponents.

"What's with those flashing lights?" Gary asked her. Blue looked up ahead to see a crowd of people with cameras taking pictures of a pair coming through the crowd. They parted to reveal Sabrina and Bryce in their costumes.

"Let's get this over with." Blue sighed. Sabrina was not one of her favorite Gym Leaders due to an incident involving ice and handcuffs. And the ice part also made Bryce not one of her favorites either.

"I don't see your problem with them." Gary shrugged. "Sure they're annoying with their acting careers, but they're not all that bad."

"You don't them like I do." Blue sighed.

* * *

"Now! Use Shadow Ball!" X called out.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Serena yelled out next to him.

Lasma and Sylveon charged up their attacks as their opponents, a Heliolisk and a Vivillon, tried to get up from the previous attacks, but they failed to notice the new ones heading their way. Unable to dodge in time, they both fainted on the spot.

"Guess we couldn't beat them." Alexa sighed as she returned Heliolisk.

"Guess not. But we're not done yet." Viola smirked. "Let's go!"

"One more turn?" X looked at Serena.

"Let's do it!" she nodded.

* * *

"Haha!" Black laughed. "And they're done for the count!"

"Aw! We lost already?" Iris complained.

"Cheer up!" Alder patted her on the back. A rather too hard though. "You gave it your all."

"You know, you're not so bad." Lack-Two told Black as they returned their pokémon.

"Not bad?! I will be the greatest! And to prove it to you, I will win this tournament!" Black exclaimed.

"Still don't understand why White likes him." Lack-Two muttered.

"What was that?" Black asked.

"Nothing." Lack-Two looked away.

"I heard that!" White yelled from over her battlefield.

* * *

"Please don't use your billiard cue." Silver told Gold as they both took out another pokéball after returning their first pokémon.

"Why?" Gold looked at him. "You're not the boss here."

"If you do, then it would draw attention to who you really are." Silver explained. "And it looked stupid."

"My billiard cue is not stupid!" Gold exclaimed.

"It does." Silver said as he called out his next pokémon, Weavile.

"I'll show you!" Gold used his billiard cue and shot out his next pokémon, Aibo.

"I tried to warn him." Silver muttered.

"You two are so strange." Liza commented.

"Sis, we're psychic. I think we're more strange than them." her twin, Tate pointed out.

"You're right." Liza nodded. "Now! Let's-!"

"Get them!" Tate finished.

* * *

"Is it just me, or are they like us?" Brendan asked May.

"One a coordinator, the other a really strong Trainer. Yep. They do." May nodded.

"Now! Milotic, Hydro Pump!" Wallace commanded.

"Kingdra! Dragon Pulse!" Juan ordered.

"But to be fair, they can both be Coordinators." Brendan pointed out. "And Gym Leaders."

"True. But let's finish this battle first!" May exclaimed. "Venusaur! Petal Dance!"

"Muddy Water, Swampert!" Brendan yelled out.

* * *

"Is it just me or is it weird a Kalos Professor is partnered with one from the Orange Islands?" Lucas asked Dawn.

"They must know each other. There are Professors, as you said, after all." Dawn pointed out.

"True. But I wonder how much they know each other." Lucas commented.

"You know, I think they're totally right for each other!" Dawn squealed.

"You do know that they're married, right?" Lucas sweatdropped.

"They are?!" Dawn exclaimed.

* * *

"HYDRO CANNON! HYDRO CANNON! HYDRO CANNON!" Barry yelled.

"Um, Barry? Aren't you going a bit overboard here? After all, this is just the second round." Max sweatdropped.

"I don't care! Take that, Dad!" Barry pointed at his opponent.

Palmer just laughed. "That's my boy! Dragonite, Wing Attack!"

"Dad, maybe you can help me out here." Max sighed as he looked at his other opponent.

"Sorry, son, but that family is just too out of control for anyone to slap some sense into them." Norman sighed. "Slaking! Retaliation!"

"Gallade! Psycho Cut!" Max ordered. A battle between father and son. How nice is that?

* * *

"Artemis! Apollo! Double Discharge!" Kate and Kellyn yelled out together.

"No! Hydro!" Keith cried out. Poor Hydro got fried at the powerful electric attack hit him, fainting him. "This all your fault, Mike! You just have to faint right off the bat! He yelled at the raven haired, green eyed boy next to him.

"Um, it's Gavin. I am in your class..." the boy quietly muttered.

* * *

"Rin! Volt Tackle!" Summer called out.

"Whoa! No way! How does your Pichu know that move?!" Ben was surprised.

"It's a secret!" Summer teased as Rin barreled into the opponent, knocking them out.

"Let's show them! Len! Thunderbolt!" Ben called out. His Pichu, with a ukulele on his back, charged up electricity and quickly fired it at their opponent, fainting them.

"You know. You could've gone a little bit easy on us." Rhythmi complained as her Solosis, Telepath, fainted from Rin.

"We're no good at battling anyways." Isaac shrugged as he returned his Porygon, Logy.

* * *

"Now! Piplup! Bubble Beam!" Lucy yelled.

"And Treecko! Absorb!" Brent shouted.

Both pokémon did as told and quickly knocked out their pokémon.

"What?!" Rose yelled.

"How were they able to knock out our pokémon so quickly?!" Bonnie complained.

"No matter! We still have some fight in us!" Rose said, determined.

"Let's get them, cousin!" Lucy exclaimed.

"You know it, cousin!" Brent exclaimed as well.

* * *

"We work well as a team!" Lyra exclaimed.

"We do." Crystal nodded.

"But you're going to be out of the running." Gold said from the other side of the battlefield.

"We'll see about that!" Lyra said, determined.

"Go! Honchkrow!" Silver called out his first pokémon.

"Starting so soon? Okay. May the best trainer win." Crystal said as she pulled out her pokéball.

* * *

"See, Yellow? We survived!" Emerald told his cousin.

"Yes, but we're against two Dragon-type trainers now." Yellow pointed out.

"I'm sure we can take out at least one of their pokémon each." Emerald said.

"I hope." Yellow sighed.

"Ready to battle?" Lance asked, determination dancing in his eyes.

"We won't go easy on you." Clair chimed in.

"Bring it on!" Emerald exclaimed.

"Yeah! We'll do our best!" Yellow exclaimed, the determination also dancing in her eyes. Little do they know.

* * *

"Hey! Look at that! We're against two Champions!" Dan pointed at his and Mason's opponents.

"Who would've guessed." Mason mentally rolled his eyes. How fun is it going up against his parents who are both crazy strong?

"Hope you boys are ready." Cynthia said.

"I'm sure this won't last long." Steven added.

"I wouldn't bet on that!" Mason exclaimed. He's determined to show his parents what he got. And he needs to show his parents that note Scarlett gave him.

* * *

After several rounds of battling where rivals went against rivals, friends against friends, parents against children, and family against unknown family, it was down to the round before the quarterfinals. All but one of those battles has been fought already and the pairs splitting up have almost been determined. X, Serena, Blue, Gary, Mason, and Dan. The only pairs left to battle were Scarlett and Ash against Professor Oak and Satoshi.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

Okay. I'm almost there. I just need to defeat the world-leading researcher on pokémon and my own father. This'll be easy. Oh, who am I kidding? We're doomed.

"Don't look so down." Ash nudged me. "We can defeat them."

"You sure? You've seen Satoshi battle." I countered.

"True, but under his tutelage, I'm sure we can beat him." he said.

"Maybe you're right." I pondered.

"That's the spirit! Let's try our best!" Ash pumped his fist into the air. I sweatdropped. He's an energetic one.

The battlefield we were battling on was the one right under the screen and everyone in the building was watching it. No pressure, right?

I took a deep breath. So far, I've only used Rio and Sol. I have yet to use Mew. I can't really risk it, but X showed off his Xerneas who he somehow caught. For some reason, Blue had the Three Birds of Kanto with her and used them for all of her battles. I don't even want to know how she caught them.

Then during the battle between Gold, Silver, Crystal, and Lyra, Gold called out Raikou, Silver called out Entei, and Crystal called out Suicune. You can tell Lyra was surprised. I'm surprised she didn't faint on the spot when she saw them.

Emerald summoned Rayquaza somehow and I don't even know how that little guy was able to. White had Reshiram with her and Black had Zekrom with him. And they both used them. Whi and Lack both had a Kyurem, just in different forms, Whi had White, Lack had Black. Where the hell are they getting these legendary pokémon?!

When they showed them off, you can tell everyone just dropped everything and stare. So much for staying undercover. How the hell are they supposed to explain their pokémon to everyone? Arceus, they're screwed.

The only ones of us who haven't shown a legendary yet were Yellow and I. Yellow was eliminated early. I wouldn't be surprised if she did have a legendary on her. Who knows? Maybe she has Mewtwo. Does she?

I'm getting very off topic now. Let's get back to the battle.

"Dragonite, go!" Professor Oak called out.

"Aero! Come on out!" Dad called out. Oh. He's talking now.

"Charizard! I choose you!" Ash tossed his pokéball out.

"Rio! Set for battle!" I called her out.

We all called out our pokémon the same time. When Aero came out, I could see Ash visibly shaking.

"Ash? Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I-I'm fine!" he said quickly. "I think we should defeat that Aerodactyl first!"

"Geez, what's his deal?" I asked out loud.

 _He's afraid of Aero due to a traumatizing experience with an Aerodactyl while he was on his journey._ Rio explained. I looked at her. _His Charizard just told me. By the way, Charizard wants the first hit at Aero._

"Pull yourself together, man!" I slapped Ash upside the head. "We got a battle going on!"

"Right!" Ash straightened up.

"My, my. I see you're ready." Professor Oak commented.

"Rio! Start off with a Dragon Pulse! Aim for Dragonite!" I commanded.

"Dragonite! Thunderbolt at Lucario!" Professor Oak called out.

"Aero! Ancient Power at Charizard!" Dad ordered.

"Charizard! Flamethrower!" Ash yelled out. Everyone looked at him. Is he crazy?! Does he know that it's not going to be effective on Aero?! Charizard also looked at him like he was crazy, but he complied anyway.

Just when I thought he was finally using his brain, Ash just _had_ to call out the most idiotic move in this situation.

Rio parted her feet shoulder length from each other and held her paws together in front of her. Slowly, a royal blue dragon aura started to appear in it. At the same time, Charizard closed its mouth as flames started to curl around its mouth. Dragonite sparked with yellow electricity before launching it at Rio. Aero flapped its wings once and several pieces of the battlefield rose from the ground, outlined in purple, and flew towards Charizard.

Rio finally fired the Dragon Pulse, digging her feet in the ground as royal blue rings clashed with the Thunderbolt heading her way. Charizard flew up and dodged the Ancient Power before unleashing the Flamethrower at Aero midair.

The Dragon Pulse and Thunderbolt collided with each other, creating a cloud of smoke. I shielded my eyes from the smoke as some of it blew over here. I spotted Aero flying above the cloud to where Charizard was. Suddenly, Dragonite also sped out of the cloud of smoke. It was two against one. Dragonite and Aero against Charizard. This is bad. Ash can't handle both of them by himself! I need to help him out somehow.

"Giga Impact!"

"Hyper Beam!"

"Charizard! Never give up!" Ash yelled. A bright light appeared on both Charizard and Ash. The light on Charizard appeared from the collar he wore with the Charizardite Y in it. Ribbons of red light collided with the orange light ribbons coming from Ash's wrist where he slapped his hand over. "Mega Evolve!"

A shield of red and orange energy covered Charizard before it broke, revealing him in his Mega Evolved state. Charizard roared as the Mega Evolution symbol appeared in front of him.

"Now! Triple attack! Wing Attack! Slash! Dragon Tail!" Ash yelled out. I blinked. Is that even possible? To my surprise, Charizard's claws glowed white as they grew longer while his tail lit up with a blue color and his wings glowed with a white light. He then charged into the attacks Dragonite and Aero were charging up. Charizard pushed Dragonite away in its Giga Impact and flew through Aero's Hyper Beam, tackling Aero himself.

They both struggled standing airborne, but they were.

 _Alright_ _Rio, he shouldn't have all the fun! Jump up and use Aura Sphere! One for each of them!_ I told her.

 _On it!_ From the cloud of smoke that still hasn't been blown away, Rio jumped up, smoke covering her until her outreached arms, an Aura Sphere in each paw, collided with Dragonite and Aero who were next to each other. The blast blew the smoke under away, showing Rio landing on her feet. Charizard slowly hovered before resting on the ground next to her. Dragonite and Aero fell to the ground with a loud thud. They may be hurt, but they were still able to fight.

"Water Pulse!" Professor Oak called out.

"Fire Fang!" Dad ordered. Dragonite stood up and produced a blue orb of water in its paws. Once it was big enough, it was launched towards Charizard. At the same time, Aero forced itself up and with flames curling around its mouth, shot towards Rio.

Aero was so fast, Rio didn't have time to react as he charged at her with jaws surrounded with fire. Aero chomped down on Rio's arm. Rio was pushed back several feet and closed her eyes as Aero bit even harder. Charizard was distracted with Rio in trouble, he didn't notice the orb of water splashing on him until it did.

Charizard's tail flame was severely doused, but it wasn't out yet. Just smaller. He was soaked all over, however.

"Rio! Dark Pulse him off!" I ordered.

 _Get the hell off of me!_ Rio held up her free paw, already pulsing with a dark aura, and fired several black and purple rings at Aero, pushing him off. When he was off, I could see burn and bite marks on Rio's arm.

"Are you guys okay?" Ash asked. Charizard gave a thumbs-up, but it was weak.

 _And just when I thought that Eevee was the worse pain in the ass I ever met. Now it's Aero! Damn fossil…_ Rio complained.

"Let's get focused here." I told her. Charizard and Rio were already weak from just one hit. They are so strong. But Dragonite and Aero are also weak from the attacks we pummeled them with.

Suddenly, both Dragonite and Aero flew into the air. Charizard went after them. Damn it. This leaves Rio at a disadvantage on the ground.

"Flamethrower!" Ash and Professor Oak yelled at the same time.

"Fire Fang!" Dad commanded.

Charizard and Dragonite both launched a stream of fire at each other, canceling each other out, but Aero flew in and bit Charizard hard on his wing with that Fire Fang. Even though it shouldn't be that effective, it did a lot of damage. The next thing I saw was Charizard falling from the air and landing next to Rio.

 _Yep. He's down for the count._ Rio confirmed as Charizard went back to his original state. Ash returned him and threw out another pokéball.

"Gre!" his Greninja popped out. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a whirlpool, changing his appearance.

"Rio! Aura Sphere!" I ordered.

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded. Both pokémon did as told and quickly fired their attack at the still airborne pokémon. The attacks brought the two pokémon down to the ground, but not out just yet.

"Extremespeed!" I told Rio. She disappeared in a blur and Dragonite looked like he was being tackled by something invisible, but it was really Rio.

"Night Shade!" Ash commanded Greninja. Greninja held one of his webbed hands out and a purple sword of energy appeared in it. Greninja rushed towards Aero and slashed him several times with the Night Slash.

Rio reappeared in front of me as she finished with her assault. When Greninja leaped back in front of Ash, Aero finally fainted.

"Aero, return," Dad called him back. "Go, Vee!"

 _Does he hate me or something?!_ Rio exclaimed.

"Just deal with it." I grunted at her. When Dad threw out his pokéball, Vee popped out as an Eevee.

"Eevee!" Vee cheered.

"Rio! Use Aura Sphere on Vee!" I told her.

 _Round Two, you bastard!_ Rio growled as she charged up an Aura Sphere in her paws. When she fired it, Vee quickly changed into a Vaporeon and turned into a puddle. I could hear gasps from everyone around us.

"What the hell?!" Ash exclaimed.

"Focus!" I yelled at him. He flinched at how loud my voice was. Okay, maybe I went too far that time.

"Right! Greninja! Night Slash on Dragonite!" he commanded. Greninja summoned his purple sword again and started towards Dragonite.

"Thunderbolt!" Professor Oak shouted. Greninja tried to stop, but it was too late, he ran right into Dragonite just as he was firing his attack. Greninja got shocked, but Dragonite didn't get out unscathed either. Both pokémon fainted. Greninja got out just from a critical hit and a super effective attack.

Professor Oak recalled his fainted pokémon and called out his next pokémon, an Arcanine.

"Return." Ash sighed as he returned his Greninja. I heard him yell a bit when Greninja got shocked. I bet he's also really exhausted at this point. "Seem like this is all up to you." he looked at me.

"Rio! Extremespeed!" I ordered Rio.

"You too Arcanine!" Professor Oak shouted. His Arcanine disappeared in a blur at the same time as Rio.

"Swift!" Dad yelled. Vee stood up as a Vaporeon and changed into an Eevee. He jumped up and flicked his tail back and forth, sending waves of stars after Rio. Unable to dodge them, Rio got pelted by the stars as Arcanine tackled into her over and over again.

 _I'm done for!_ Rio said dramatically as she fell over, fainted. I rolled my eyes as I returned her.

I'm up against two super powerful trainers who still have one pokémon each. Neither of them had had a single attack land on them. I guess there's only one option.

"Please. I'm counting on you." I pulled out my pink pokéball and whispered to it. I planted a light kiss and it before throwing it out. "Come on out!"

" _Yay! I get to battle!"_ Mew cheered as she popped out in a shower of pink sparks.

"No way!" I heard Ash gasp.

"Remarkable." Professor Oak stared at her in awe.

I only saw my father smirk. Okay so maybe he did see this coming.

"Mew! Sheer Cold!" I told her.

" _Welcome to a new Ice Age!"_ she winked as she summoned up a wave of unbelievably cold air. I shielded myself from a freezing wind that swept over the battlefield. When it died down, Vee was completely frozen and fainted while Arcanine was unaffected. He must have used Extremespeed to escape it.

"Use Flamethrower!" Professor Oak commanded as Dad returned his pokémon.

"Guillotine!" I shouted.

" _Off with your head! Just kidding!"_ Mew shrieked as a green aura surrounded her. A pair of claws appeared in front of her as she flew towards Arcanine. His Flamethrower didn't affect Mew at all as he was hit by the Guillotine attack, fainting from the instant knockout.

" _Yay! I won!"_ Mew cheered.

"U-um, and that concludes our final Tag Battle." Charles announced while slackjawed. I wouldn't blame him.

I returned Mew and found everyone staring at me. "What's the big deal?" I looked innocently at them. Then the lights went out.

* * *

 **Oh my! I wonder what's going to happen! Just kidding. I already know, but you don't.**

 **I know that most of you would think Mew was way too OP at the end, but to be fair, she can learn any kind of move and those two moves she used were one-hit KO moves.**

 **I'm still not so sure about writing battles, but I did do my best!**

 **And how would've thought that all of the Mangang (thanks for the name keaton-furman-prower!) would have teh mascots of their games? Seriously, who didn't see that coming? But don't worry! I won't have them use the legendaries all the time. This is a once in a blue moon event. Or a once in a total solar eclipse event. That was for my readers in America.**

 **And this has been bothering me for a bit, but I haven't been able to fit in any where so here's an extra scene that doesn't relate to this arc at all!**

Ash: Hey, haven't we seen you two before?

Dawn: Now that you mention it, they do look familiar.

Kellyn: Who? Us?

Ben: I"m pretty sure we never saw any of you before we came to this school.

Dawn: Wait! I know! Back in Sinnoh! The Riolu adn Heatran!

Ash: You're right! But I thought you two were already rangers, not student.

Kellyn: Oh. You must mean the Top Rangers Kellyn adn Ben. Same name, but totally differnt people.

Ben: Yeah. Kellyn is my second cousin's half-sister's step-uncle's ex-wife's second cousin's step-mother's half-nephew. And Ben is his half-brother's cousin.

Kellyn: So it's like we are sorta related, but we're still different people.

Ash: Oh...

Dawn: That makes... sense?

Kellyn: A lot of people mess us up with them, but that explaination always clears things up.

 **And there we go! Another plot hole fixed! Not the best way to do it, but it makes sense for now!**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading and leave a review if you like it!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	35. Halloween: Part Four

**Hello my readers!**

 **I believe you all know why I'm updating! that's right! It's teh second anniversity of this story! Two years on this site? I can't believe it!**

 **When was the last anniversity? Wait, Chapter 17?! That's a long time!**

 **As last time, here are the stats!**

 **Reviews: 66**

 **Vews: 11008**

 **Favorites: 29**

 **Follows: 23**

 **Yay! We passed 11000 views! That's amazing! I want to thank you all for coming this far!**

 **And here are the reviews!**

 **thor94: Thank you! I try to make battles as fair as I can, but I'm just not good at writing them! Mew is more of comic relief. She won't do much battling excpet when needed. And I do have plans for Ash. Just you wait!**

 **.18: As I said, they're not going to use the lengendaries often. This may even be the last time you see them. I just wanted something funny and unexpected in there. And yes I took your suggestion. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you beofre, but it was just so good I had ot put it in! I'm sorry! Blue actually battled against Sabrina and Brycen, hence the ice part. Amber? And Mewtwo? Don't be ridculous! I have something else for the two of them.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Don't worry. Ash would never have a Ho-oh! Gold has one already! Heh, just wait a few more chapters. A few new characters to the mangang will show up and I know you know who. I'm not being mean or offensive here or anything, but by your logic, then they would just be their cousin's cousin's former roommates. A father's brother would just be their uncle and their uncle's nephew would be their cousin. Just pointing it out there! I don't mean anything by it, I swear!**

 **A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, faved, and/or followed this story. What was a side project became the main focus and I have all of you to thank for that! Sorry for the long Author'sNote and I know you've been waiting for the chapter, so I'll shut up and let the show go on!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything I will refer to. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five

 **Blue's POV**

What the hell?! What's going now?! I know this was not supposed to happen! Who cut the power?!

"Gary!" I hissed. "What's going on?!"

"How should I know?!" he snapped at me.

"You were in charge of supervising the light effects!" I retorted.

"Ask Emerald! He did all the work!" he countered.

"Fine!" I stormed off to find the little pipsqueak. But that was easier said than done. I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black. The only light I could see was nothing. I wish I brought a flashlight or something. I could hear some of the girls starting to scream and panic while I swear some of the boys were out hunting, if you know what I mean. Finally, some trainers with some sense decided to call out their fire and electric type pokémon.

"Summer!" I called out to the girl. She looked around. Her Pichu, Rin, was on her shoulder, using Flash, allowing the both of them to see. I walked closer over to her.

"Blue! What's happening?!" she exclaimed when I was near her.

"I think know, but I'm determined to find out." I told her. "You want to help me find Emerald?"

"I see him! Yeah he's right next to Yellow." she pointed a few yards over to where Yellow and Emerald were standing. Yellow had Chuchu out and using Flash as well.

"Hey! Crescent Head!" I yelled at him as I stormed towards him.

"Uh oh!" I saw him gasp with wide eyes as I got near.

"Tell me! What did you do to the lights?!" I demanded as I picked him up by his collar, bringing him up to my eye level.

"I didn't do anything! I just did the things you asked me to! I didn't plan this to happen!" he frantically said as he struggled in my grip. Boy, his short legs didn't do him any good here.

"Blue! Settle down." Yellow comforted me.

"How? This night is going to end in a disaster." I exclaimed as I suddenly let go of Emerald. "The tournament was going so well, but then this! I'm going to make a fool of myself!"

"Can't you think of any other explanation for this?" Emerald asked me as he rubbed his head.

"No! I made sure that everything was perfect." I told him. "There was no way anything could go way, unless..." my mind drifted off. I know the ranger kids were scared out of their wits when Serena told that story, but to be honest, I found a couple of Banette masks in some of the school old records. And they looked _really_ old.

"Blue? What are you thinking about?" Yellow asked.

"Keep everyone in here. Tell Ash's gang, our friends, and our ranger pals to go outside. We can't have widespread panic." I ordered. Yellow and Emerald nodded before running as Ditty transformed into a Shuppet to go off and help spread the word. As for me, I hardly have any light to go by, but I pushed passed many people to get to one of the exits.

It was long and hard. By I was able to get outside, I took a deep breath of the crisp cool air and it helped energize my lungs. I took out a pokéball and let out the pokémon within. "Moltres! Come on!"

Moltres appeared in a flash of light before letting out a great cry. His wings, ablaze, provided all the light I needed. I looked behind and me and noticed every one of my friends running up to meet me. Of course, a huge bird with wings made of fire wasn't that hard to miss in a pitch black night. Ditty, as a Shuppet, flew up to me before transforming back into a Ditto and landed on my shoulder.

"Blue! What the hell happened in there?!" Gary yelled at me.

"How should I know?! Do you think I wanted that to happen?!" I snapped back.

"Everyone shut up!" Scarlett shouted. "I get that whatever happened in there was unexpected, but we don't need to blame each other!"

"It's the legend! It is!" Serena shouted.

"She's right! It's midnight!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Oh my Arceus! We're all dead!" Keith yelled out.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Silver roared. "Or I swear, I will sick Entei on every one of you!"

"Now, let's think of this rationally and calmly." Crystal said coolly. "We can't go running around like headless Farfetch'd."

"Right." White nodded. "We should split up to see what exactly is going on."

"Are you crazy?!" Gold grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. "We can't split up! We'll only get picked off one by one by the Headless Horseman!"

Somehow, he got knocked off of her, but later, I saw that it was Lack-Two.

"We won't be alone. We'll stick with partners and we have our pokémon." Whi-Two pointed out.

"Right. To be safe, we should split off like this; one trainer with a legendary goes with a ranger and if there are extras, stick with one of us. But no trainers who both have legendaries go together. The others won't be as protected that way." Lucas explained.

"Seems good." Kate nodded. She picked off a pokéball off her belt and threw it in the air. In a flash of light, a Cresselia popped out. "Now who's going with me?"

We all blinked at the rangers as they all brought out different legendary pokémon. Keith had a Heatran at his side while Kellyn's Darkrai was floating behind him. Rhythmi and Isaac each had a Lucario standing in front of them while Summer's Latias and Ben's Latios stayed near their trainers. Lucy had Celebi in her arms while Brent had Victini sitting on top of his head. I definitely don't remember giving them those pokémon!

"Um, how did you guys get legendaries?" Ash asked them, still awe-struck.

"They're our guardians. We were assigned them one night at the Ranger School back in Almia, but we never had to call upon them for help since only we know about them." Rhythmi explained.

"And you two never told us?!" Lucas and Brendan yelled at their younger siblings.

"You never asked!" Lucy smiled at them.

"Next time you ask us how school went, ask about our pokémon!" Brent added.

We're just full of secrets today, now aren't we?

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

"Rio, stop messing around and keep that Aura Sphere in one paw." I told her.

 _Aw, you're no fun._ Rio pouted as she stopped juggling the sole Aura Sphere we're using as one of one of our light sources and kept it in one paw. Mew was floating above us, a light shining from her body.

The group decided to split off. Some went with two other people, but most went in a larger group. I was in a group with Gary and X. Blue was with Serena, May, and Dawn. Ash decided to go with his cousins, Brendan, Lucas, Lucy, and Brent. Kate, Keith, and Kellyn went in a group while Summer and Ben went with Rhythmi and Isaac. The Unova gang went with each other as well the Johto gang, but Lyra also went with them. Emerald, Yellow, Max, and Barry went together as the last group.

"Are you sure this is a smart idea?" X asked me.

"Why would you ask that?" I replied.

"We left a building filled with students who don't know what the hell is going on and we locked them in there." he pointed out.

"I didn't lock them in there. Gary did." I answered.

"Blue told me to. She forced my hand." he shrugged.

We each have some kind of pokémon out with us. I had Rio, Sol, and Mew out while Gary only has his Sableye out and X had his Lasma. The Ghost types would be able to sense if something wicked this way comes. I wish I brought Pika, she could've helped out somehow.

"Mew, can you see anything?" I asked her.

 _"_ _Nope. Not a soul except for your friends."_ she answered.

"Not a very good answer though." X protested. "The Headless Horseman is a ghost."

"X, that story is just a legend." I told him. "He's not real."

"If you say so." he rolled his eyes. "But he's the only explanation to the lights suddenly going out."

"Wait." I stopped walking. I spotted something on the ground in front of us. "Stay here." I told the boys. I motioned for Rio, Sol, and Mew to follow me as I stepped forward. I kneeled down as I picked up the unknown object. Rio moved her Aura Sphere closer so I could see it better. It was made of black fabric. Old black fabric. A yellow zipper stretches across with two smaller opened zippers above it. I stood up as I realized what it was.

"A Banette mask..." I said slowly. I could see my hand tremble a bit. This must be a joke. Blue must have left this here. I turned around to face the boys, but when I looked up, they were gone. Only Sableye and Lasma were there.

 _Where are they?_ Rio asked.

"Lasma, Sableye, where are your trainers? What happened to them?" I asked quietly.

"Gen! Gengar! Gen!"

"Sa sableye! Eye! Sableye!"

" _They just disappeared?"_ Mew was deathly pale.

"What do you mean disappeared?" I asked.

"Gen gen gengar! Gen gen!" Lasma exclaimed.

 _You say a blue flame washed over them before they vanished?_ Rio translated.

A shiver went down my spine. I looked at the mask in my hand. It couldn't be, could it? The legend isn't real. It's only a story. But, where did Gary and X go? Both Lasma and Sableye are freaked out. Clearly, they are not joking about this. I could see both of my hands tremble. I clenched my fists tight, but in the faint light, I could see myself getting pale. Oh Arceus, this is worse than the Honedge.

Suddenly, a neigh filled the air. I snapped my head up to see a flicker of a blue flame in the distance. Laughter followed after. A wicked, evil laughter. I felt the air drop ten degrees as the laughter and neigh died out.

"We have to move." I said quietly. "We have to go. And no one takes their eye off of each other. We only each other now."

* * *

We continued on. Once in awhile, we would see that blue flame and that laughter would fill the air right after. In total, I counted a total of eight blue flames, including the one that swallowed Gary and X. Each time we saw a blue flame, they were different sizes. It could mean more than one person went with them. I really hope everyone's okay. I don't want them hurt.

My pokémon as well as Lasma and Sableye formed a circle around me, as to protect me from anything to happen, but it was also to make sure everyone else was in view.

 _Scarlett, are you okay?_ Rio asked me.

"It's my fault." I said quietly. "I told them to stay back. I left them alone. They're gone because of me!"

" _Snap out of it!"_ Mew appeared in front of me. " _Stop blaming yourself. We all had a part in this. We couldn't stop it anyhow. There's a bigger force behind this."_

"Sol. Absol." Sol growled as she glared ahead. Everyone got in a battle stance as the thing in front of us approached.

"White! Whi! Lack! Where are you guys?!" I recognized that voice. My eyes snapped open as I broke free of the circle of pokémon. I ran straight ahead before I saw the light of Whi-Two's Candela-chan.

"Black!" I yelled towards him. I saw him look up and his eyes grew bright. He ran towards me. I nearly fell, but he caught me in his arms. "Thank Arceus I found you! I thought I was going to be alone!"

"Scarlett!" he exclaimed. "Where's Gary and X? Weren't they with you?" he asked as my group of pokémon caught up with me.

"Gone." I shook my head. "Disappeared in a blue flame."

"Same thing with me." Black said. "White and her siblings just vanished. Only their pokémon are left." he looked behind him. I saw Candela-chan, Musha, Barbara, and Beheeyem there. They all looked worried as well.

"We have to find the others." I said as I stood up straight. They might also be all alone."

"You're right. We have to find the others quickly." I saw Black had something in his hand.

Black, what's that?" I asked him.

"A Banette mask..." he held it up to me. I gasped quietly as I raised the one I had in my hand. He looked as alarmed as I was. With a shared look, we ran off to find the others.

It felt like forever since I felt this way. Pure terror filled my worst fears as the cold air filled my lungs. I can't feel my legs, but that's fine. The wind doesn't bother me. I have faced colder air. My heart was beating loudly, so loud; I felt each thump as I took a step forward. Eventually, I could see a great orange fire in the distance. As we got closer, I could see it was a Moltres. Blue's Moltres.

Happiness replaced that fear for just a second as I realized my friend could still be here. That hope went away soon though. Blue wasn't there. In her place was Serena.

I stopped dead in my tracks. If Serena was here, then everyone in her group was gone. Including Blue.

"Oh my Arceus! I am so glad I found you!" Serena exclaimed when she saw us coming. She ran up to us. I saw that with her were Moltres, Blaziken, Sylveon, Glaceon, and Lopunny.

"Serena, did everyone else-?" I asked her quietly. I couldn't even finish my question.

"Gone. I saw it. They were right in front of my eyes! I couldn't even stop it!" she cried. I looked down at her hands to find it clutching a piece of black fabric. She moved her hands a bit to see three yellow zippers.

"At least they still left some of their pokémon out." Black spoke up. "We still have Moltres."

"No. It's not him." Serena shook her head. "It's just Blue's Ditty. Blue called back her Moltres when we started searching." Ditty transformed back into its blob from before landing on Serena's shoulder as she said that.

"We need to find whoever's left. We have power in numbers. We're not safe broken up like this." I said. I felt Lasma move under my hand. I looked down at him and saw a faint smile on his face. It was as if he was reassuring me. I smiled back. If X's pokémon thinks that we can find him, than I think so too.

 _Someone's coming towards us._ Rio alerted me. I looked up to where she was facing to see another lone person with several pokémon surrounding them running to us.

I spotted the red hair and called out "Silver!" Said boy looked up and ran faster. With him were Honchkrow, Exbo, Xatee, Entei, Raikou, Suicune, and a Mismagius who I guess belongs to Lyra.

"What happened to your group, man?" Black asked him.

"Take a guess." he glared at him as he panted. He spotted Serena standing with us. "If she's here, than where's Nee-san?"

Everyone became quiet. Clearly, no one wants to tell him, but can you blame us? He can be a bit unstable with his emotions. I thought I would be the one to tell him. "Silver, I 'm sorry, but Serena was the only spared from her group."

"What?!" Silver looked shocked. "Nee-san is gone? She got taken away by, whatever that thing is?!" anger was rising.

"Silver, calm down." My voice hard for the first time since I stepped out here. "We couldn't help whatever happened to our friends and don't you dare you go blaming any of us for not helping her. We all know we had no power over what happened to her."

His fists eventually went limp and from them, a black mask fell to the ground. We decided to stay in one spot as we waited for the others to find us. One by one, they did.

Lucy was left stumbling alone. With her was her partner pokémon, Piplup, Brent's partner pokémon, Treecko, Staraptor, Swellow, Ash's Eevee, Celebi and Victini. Barry nearly tackled into us. When the pokémon caught up with him, I saw there were only Max's Gallade, Chuchu, Jirachi, who Emerald and Yellow both befriended a while ago, and his Heracross. Kellyn was by himself. He only had his and his sister's Pachirisu, Keith's Buizel, Cresselia and Darkrai with him. Summer was the last one to reach us. She had Rin, Len, and Rhythmi and Isaac's Lucario travelling with her.

Each of them had a Banette mask with them. Clearly, we were all visited. But the real question is why we were the only ones left? Why not take all of us at once?

"Okay. Everyone who's left is here. What do we do now?" Silver asked.

"Stay together. We should minimize the amount of pokémon we have out with us." Kellyn suggested. We agreed with him. Black returned all of his pokémon who he had out as well as Silver, save for his Entei. Serena called back her Sylveon while Barry returned his Heracross. Lucy's Piplup just climbed up her shoulder as Celebi rested in her arms. Her other shoulder was occupied by Treecko and on her head was Victini. Eevee was sitting at her feet. Kellyn had both Pachirisu on his shoulders while Cresselia and Darkrai was floating behind him ominously. Buizel curled up around his feet. Summer had both Pichu on her shoulders while both Lucario were standing guard around us. I didn't bother returning any of my pokémon. They all could help in some way.

As for the others, well, we can't help them. We don't have their pokeballs to return any of them. Instead, they just milled around. Suddenly, the Three Beasts were engulfed in a flare of blue flames. Everyone gasped. We backed away from the spot. When the flame died, nothing was there. The Beasts were just, gone.

"Entei!" Silver cried out. Now they're going for pokémon? Great, this has just gotten worse. I heard a scream and turned around. Right were Lucy, Kellyn and Summer stood were three pillars of blue tinted fire. The screams died when the fire vanished. The three of them and the pokémon they had on them were gone.

"Okay! This is getting bad now! Really bad!" Barry exclaimed. "It's that stupid Horseman I tell ya! We have to get rid of these stupid masks somehow!"

"Scarlett, you have any idea?" Serena asked me.

"I-I..." I stuttered. My entire body was trembling. I felt my blood run cold. I could see my breath in front of me. I can't feel a thing. My arms, my hands, they feel like they're made of ice. My legs, I can't move them. I was frozen in place. Terror filled every ounce of my body as I dropped to my knees. I held my head in my hands. I can barely breathe.

What the hell's going on? Why are we getting picked off?! Why is it after us?! I closed my eyes shut. Suddenly, screams filled my head. Th-they were _my_ screams. But I know I'm not screaming. Where are they coming from then?! Why does this fear feel so familiar?! Images flashed in my mind. I can't see them clearly. They didn't last long. Each one was only a split second, but I saw them long enough to know they weren't good. What the hell is this?!

A blood-curdling scream snapped me out though. I jerked my head up to see Black, Barry, and Serena and the pokémon with them erupt in that evil blue flame. I stared at where they once were to find nothing. I was alone. Save for my pokémon of course. They were the only ones left. Them and Silver.

"T-this can't be happening." I whispered.

"Scarlett? Scarlett! Get a hold of yourself!" I heard Silver right next to me, but he sounded so far away. So distant.

"Scarlett!" I finally snapped to attention when he started to shake me by my shoulders.

"What?" I looked at him.

"Don't worry about the others. We'll be fine. I know they're fine." he looked around at the darkness. "I've faced something like this before. If we just stayed calm, than we have nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?!" I exploded. "What the hell are you talking about?! Our friends are gone! Your pokémon are gone! Everyone's gone!"

"Will you shut up?!" Silver yelled at me. I never saw him this mad before. I quietly closed my mouth. "This is not a time to panic. If you do, then you'll have your emotions take over. And trust me, in this situation; you don't want your emotions to take over. You can't think clearly or what you're doing."

"Than what do we do?" I asked him.

"First thing is that we stay calm. That's very important." Silver sighed. "Then we have to stay together."

"I think you already established that," I rolled my eyes.

"Listen, this is not a time to act sarcastic." Silver said. I raised a brow at him. "Okay, I'm a bad example, but still. We have to be calm and serious."

"Okay, I'm fine now." I took a deep breath.

"Are you sure you're good?" Silver asked me.

"I'm definite." I nodded.

"Okay, we only have your pokémon out with us. I think that should give us enough protection with the two of us here." Silver said.

"Silver?" I asked him. "How are you so calm in situation like this? I know you have a cold exterior, but you should still be somewhat scared." I said.

"I don't like to say it, but I've been through something like this before." he answered.

"You have?" I replied.

"Yes. Both me and Nee-san." he nodded. "It was when she was five and I was only three. We were both kidnapped from our families. We were brought to this strange castle in the middle of nowhere and we had to work for this Shadow Lady. Let me tell you that I wouldn't have made it through if it wasn't for Nee-san."

"Wow. I never knew that about you. I'm sorry." I shook my head.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. It was the Shadow Lady's fault. After a few years under her control, Nee-san and I escaped. It wasn't until she was ten and I was nine was when Red took us in.

"I see." I looked away. Somehow, the name shadow Lady sounded familiar to me, but I don't know how. And that castle, why does it look so familiar in my mind? It's almost like I could see what it actually looked like.

"Scarlett!" I snapped my head up. Right where Silver stood was a pillar of blue flames.

"Silver!" I screamed. I tried to reach out my hand to him, but he was gone in a flash. Just like that. He was gone.

It was just me. Alone.

" _A-Ashley? Are you okay?"_ Mew floated down to me. Her light was the only thing that brought any kind of calmness to me. But it wasn't working this time. When I opened my mouth to reply, Sol was drowning in that blue fire. Rio was set ablaze next. Finally, Mew. Instead of words, a scream came out of my mouth. I reached out for my pokémon, my closest friends, but the flames died. I was left alone. I was truly alone.

Why. Why is this happening to me?! What did I do to deserve this kind of punishment?! What sin have I committed?! Tell me Arceus, what evil deed did I do to backlash this torture?!

I felt tears well up in my eyes. I closed them tight, sensing those tears rolling down my face. I placed my hands on the dark grass in front of me. I was crying so hard. I can't remember the last time I ever, _ever_ felt this way. No. Wait. There was that one time, but I just can't-

The sound of a crackling fire brought me back to reality. I snapped my head up to see the top of the Performance Hall glowing like a red and orange flower. On the very top was a man on a black Rapidash with a fiery blue mane. Him. He was the one who caused this! Legend or not, I don't give a fuck, he was the being who ripped everything from me.

Terror quickly replaced by fury. I rose to my feet. I felt energy coursing through my veins. The cold was gone. I could only feel the rage building up. I felt my eyes flash a dark blue, maybe a purple, as I gathered up that energy in my hands. I'm not letting anyone else pay for whatever I have done.

I set my feet apart. I gritted my teeth together as I focused the aura in me into a concentrated sphere. I raised my arms in front of me that held the Aura Sphere in place. I aimed right for the Headless Horseman. Rage flowed through my veins. I witnessed my pale blue Aura Sphere swirl before deepening to a dark purple. I don't know what that means, but I don't care. He. Must. Pay.

Pushing the last of my energy in that Aura Sphere, I launched it. The orb sailed through the air before it collided with the phantom. The aura trapped inside was released and showered over the building. The flames flickered before withering away. The Horseman was blasted off the roof. The Aura Sphere broke into several smaller ones before scattering.

I fell to my knees. That attack took most of what I have inside of me. I raise one of my hands to my face. I thought I saw it flicker, but when I looked at it again, it was solid. Good, I'm not going to be gone yet. Not yet. I fell on my back and looked up and saw the stars above shining. Huh, I don't remember the stars shining that bright before. But it was so beautiful. I can't remember the last time I have seen anything like that before. I closed my eyes and blacked out.

* * *

"Scarlett. Wake up."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know."

"She's been sleeping longer than the others have."

"Scarlett."

My eyelids fluttered open. I was blinded by the sudden bright lights. When I was used to it, I looked up to see my friends surrounding me.

"Hey! She's awake!" Black exclaimed.

"Scarlett? How are you feeling?" Yellow asked me.

I gasped. I shot up, but only to regret that decision when I felt something hit my forehead. I winced in pain as I placed a hand over it. I looked up to see that I butted heads with X. Whoops.

"Ow..." I groaned.

"Geez, what do you have? A metal plate in your skull?" X complained. I forgot the pain I was in and widen my eyes. I threw my arms around his neck.

"Thank Arceus you're here!" I whispered in his ear.

"Whoa!" he said. "Scarlett. It's fine. I'll always be here."

"I'm guessing you also experience the same dream as everyone else did." Max concluded.

"Dream?" I let go of X and turned towards him.

"Yes. Dream." Max nodded. "Seems like we all got a nightmare. Somehow, our rather large group here got a different, shared nightmare than everyone else."

"Is that possible?" Blue asked.

"Kellyn. Did your Darkrai get out again?" Kate glared at her twin.

"Heh, it would seem so!" Kellyn sweatdropped.

"At least no one got really hurt." Crystal sighed.

"But it was really cool though!" Lucy exclaimed.

"As long as that Headless Horseman wasn't real." Summer sighed. Suddenly, blue flames erupted on the main stage. I screamed when I saw them and grabbed X's arm tightly. The rest of the girls got the same idea as me and grabbed to whoever was the closest. I felt something under my hand and picked it up to see a Banette mask. I screamed again and threw into that forbidden fire. When it died down, I saw Dad all covered in burn marks and holes in his clothes.

"Sorry guys!" he yelled out. "Just an attempt at a grand entrance gone wrong!" he shouted before limping off stage.

"Oh, at least it wasn't the real Headless Horseman!" Lyra placed a hand over her heart.

"Say, what happened at the end of the dream?' Serena asked me.

"Oh, nothing." I said. "I guessed I just blacked out after you guys disappeared. Honestly, I don't remember a thing that happened!"

"Scarlett? Do you think you can let go of my arm? I can't feel it." X tapped my on my hand. I looked down to see X's arm turning blue.

"Sorry!" I cried as I let go of it.

"It's alright." he waved it off as he stood up. "Hope you're ready for a battle though. We still got those battles." he held a hand out for me to grab.

"I'm all up for it." I accepted his hand. He pulled me up as everyone else stood up. "Blue, I just hope you got an idea on how to explain this to everyone."

"I'm working on it!" Blue exclaimed. "Gary! You're taking half the blame if I get blamed for any of this!"

"Oh joy." he rolled his eyes as she picked him up by the collar.

Everyone else just laughed before walking towards the main stage. I thought I saw a dark purple flash on my hands, but it wasn't there anymore. It's nothing to worry about. I didn't even worry about that short second where my hand was fading.

* * *

 **Was it all a dream? Or was it real? Who knows? Maybe I don't even know?**

 **And if anyone was wondering about the rangers, the same thing applies to the trainers. The legendaries will have their very brief spotlight in this chapter. That's it. They probably won't even make anotehr big appearance. Just tiny snippets here and there. They don't even add much to the story. I ust added them in there because I feel like it. So don't question it any further. Please. I'm tired of repeating myself.**

 **Again, thank you for reading this. I am so grateful to see that people aare willing to read what I ave to write. Tahnk you all. As I said for two years, dont' forget ot review.**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	36. Halloween: Part Five

**Hi everyone!**

 **Just as a heads-up to anyone who may be wandering where this story was for the last month or so, I was just catching ATiL up so this story and that story would have the same number of chapters and I can just alternate between the two of them for my updates every two weeks. Meaning, you'll probably get an update for each every month.**

 **I've just been a lot busy lately and so stressed out, so I'm sorry if I upset anyone with this delayed update. School has just been hard lately.**

 **But enough with that, time for reviews!**

 **.18: Thank you for givig me the notice. I might bring her in sometime in the future, but I did make the chapters quite some time in advance, so you might not see her for a while.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: Is there even a thing as Ghostbusters in Pokemon? Wouldn't they just be the Ghost-type trainers and Channelers? Seriously, if they did, then an entire type would be gone and we wouldn't have the fan favorite 'Gengar is Clefable's shadow' theory. And I take things very literally. I'm sorry, but I have never seen the movie, but I did watch the clip. Sorry for not getting the joke, but again, I take things literally sometimes!**

 **Warning to any of you who hates math, there will be quite a bit of it in this chapter, but nothing too big or with a lot of numbers. Just a lot of explaining. I like math, but I know that some people don't, so I'm just warning all of you!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or anything else I refer to. I only own my OCs.**

 **WARNING! INCOMING MATH AHEAD!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six

 **Blue's POV**

"My apologies, everybody!" I spoke into the mic. "It seemed like we got a special visit from the Nightmare bringer himself, Darkrai, but it also looked like our savior, Cresselia also made a visit! How amazing is that? A visit from two legendaries and all of our spectacular trainers and their impressive skills to catch a legendary? I say this is a night to remember!" With that, everyone on the room cheered. Crisis averted.

"Any other things you need to say?" Gary asked me when I walked off the stage.

"Hey! If you think I planned this, then you're dead wrong!" I placed my hands on my hips. "I care for my friends. I would never do anything this low! Besides, I don't know Darkrai or Cresselia."

"But it's still weird how it seemed so real, yet it was just a dream." Gary wondered out loud. "And Satoshi's appearance was strange as well. Do you think he has anything to do with that?"

"Greenie! Stop thinking so hard!" I bonked him on his head. "That's over now and we still have a tournament to finish!" I skipped away from him and hopped next to Serena and Scarlett. Personally, I think we should stick together for now since we're the only girls in the quarterfinals right now. But they're also my friends too!

"Hey! What are the chances of one of us going against the other?" Serena asked.

Ugh. Math. I really hate it. "Well, I'm sure there's a low-" I started.

"A 6/56 chance or about 11% or 12%." Scarlett answered.

I whirled around to look at her. There is no way a human being can do that kind of math that quickly.

"What?" she shrugged. "I went to Trainers' School. They don't just teach battles there. There are also other academic subjects."

"Don't you go all smart on me." I warned her.

"Blue, it's okay to know that stuff since you use it in everyday life." she informed me.

"Give me an example." I crossed my arms.

"Take my preliminary battle for example." Scarlett said. "The probability of Misty and Brock choosing their Starmie and Geodude is small, but predictable. Misty has ten different pokémon she rotates from for battling that she personally owns. Brock has nine pokémon in rotation he uses personally. Ironically, only two of his pokémon are rock-types, one being a pure rock-type. Then he has two water-types, one grass and one ground, two poison-types, one fighting and one flying, two steel-types, one bug and one ground, and one normal-type. Honestly, I don't see how he's a Rock-type Gym Leader."

"You're getting off topic." Serena interrupted.

"Sorry." Scarlett said. "As I was saying, Misty had an 11% chance of choosing one of her water types which she would do since it's her signature. Brock would also want to use one of his few rock-types since that is what he is known for, giving him a 50%. Together, they would have a 5.5% of choosing both Starmie and Geodude."

"I know Ash has Sceptile, Greninja, and Charizard on him and you girls know who I have. Ash would have a 66% of choosing a good type match-up if he used common sense and a 33% of choosing his Sceptile if he really used his head. I knew he had Misty covered, but for me, it was just a wild card since none of my pokémon was really effective against any of Misty's pokémon. She seemed to go with her Staryu and Starmie most often in mock battles so that was the reason why I chose Absol, and thus, victory was ours in a one-hit KO."

"Wow." I stared at her. "That was just a lot of math."

"I can explain the entire process if you want. That was just a simplified version." Scarlett smirked.

"No! I'm fine!" I exclaimed. I shuddered internally. Math is one of my worst subjects. I would rather do things you actually do every day, like pick locks, steal important objects, and snoop through our friends' stuff! If there was a class for those kinds of things, I would totally pass!

"Okay, we got everything up and running now." Charles announced as he stepped on stage. "Sorry for that bit of a delay, but we're here to show you the match-ups for the quarterfinals!" he gestured his hand to the screen behind him and we followed to where his hand pointed to. On the screen were eight different cards with Scarlett, Ash, Mason, Dan, X, Serena, Gary, and my masked face on each of them separately. The cards flipped over and moved into a single deck. The decks moved away as brackets appeared. One card fell into each spot before flipping over. When they did, they revealed the match-ups: Serena vs me, X vs Ash, Scarlett vs Mason, and Gary vs Dan.

"We'll have all four battles going on at the same time so choose your favorites and let get these battles started!" Charles announced.

"Wow. What are the odds of that?" Serena said as she looked at the pairs.

"I told you guys already. 11%" Scarlett repeated.

"Enough with your logic. We have battles to do!" I exclaimed as I grabbed Serena's wrist and dashed towards our battlefield.

"Blue! Wait!" I heard Serena exclaim behind me. I ignored her though. We were almost there and I stopped in the center of the battlefield.

"We're here!" I announced as I let go of her wrist.

"Arceus! I think my legs finally caught up with me!" Serena panted as she fell to her knees.

"You'll be fine!" I told her. "Now, get on your side so I can beat you!"

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

Hmm, so my fiancé is my first opponent for this quarterfinal. This should be fun. I can finally see how strong he is.

I sensed Mew hovering next to me, camouflaged, as Mason stood across from me on this vast battlefield.

"Let the battle begin!" our referee, Steven Stone, announced. I wonder how he would react to his son getting beat by his future daughter-in-law. Whatever, it should be fun either way.

"Sol! Set for battle!"

"Metagross! Stand your ground!"

"Absol!"

"Meta!"

Both landed on the ground; one gracefully, and the other with a loud thud. I noticed something about his Metagross; it was shiny. Definitely like father like son.

"Sol! Night Shade!" I ordered her.

"Holy crap! We're starting?!" Mason exclaimed.

"Where have you been for the last minute?" I smirked at him. Sol's horn grew longer as a glowing purple color covered it. In a flash, she was gone from where she was standing and dashed towards Metagross.

"Quick! Steady yourself!" Mason commanded. Metagross dug its claws into the ground as Sol slashed him with her Night Shade. Sol bounced off harmlessly as Metagross hardly took any damage.

"Now! Zen Headbutt!" Mason shouted. I nearly fell over anime style. I'm pretty sure everyone actually did.

"Um, is he aware that that won't affect Absol at all?" I heard Lucas comment from the sidelines.

"I thought I taught him better." I heard Steven mutter as he facepalmed.

"Are you sure you know your types matchups?" I asked Mason.

"Why wouldn't I?" Mason asked.

I sighed. Guess I have to teach him the hard way. "Sol. Shadow Claw."

As Metagross charged up, the top of his head lit up with a bright blue. At the same time, Sol landed on the other side of the battlefield. She shook off the impact she had with Metagross and readied both of her paws. She ran towards Metagross again and stretched her paws outward in front of her. Shadow energy grew from her claws as she aimed for Metagross.

Metagross launched himself towards Sol, aiming right at her. But as expected, he just passed right through her as it didn't affect her. Mason was surprised. I was not.

"Use your tail and turn!" I told her. Dragging her tail on the ground, Sol turned a 180 and ran again for Metagross. She successfully scratched Metagross' head.

"Damn! How could I forget something as simple as that?!" Mason exclaimed.

" _Wow. You're going to be married to him? Good luck."_ Mew giggled as she sat on my shoulder, her tail curling around my neck.

"I'm really going to have a lot of work in front of me." I sighed. "Sol! Hyper Beam!"

"Use Meteor Mash!" Mason called out. Sol did a backflip as she turned back to face Metagross. She opened her mouth and a bright white ball began to form in it. As she did that, Metagross locked his legs together and launched towards Sol with his legs glowing white. Sol dug her claws in the ground from the recoil of the Hyper Beam firing from her mouth. The two attacks collide and an explosion occurred.

Mew retreated behind me as the smoke blew our way. I covered my face with the veil connected to my arm so I could breathe. Two very powerful attacks like those are sure to knock one of them out by now, but who was the one?

Through the smoke, I could see a purple glow. I smirked. Sol knows how to read my mind. With a slash, the smoke cleared immediately and Sol stood triumphant over the fainted Metagross.

* * *

 **X's POV**

"Well there goes one of my aces." Ash sighed as he recalled his Charizard. In reply, Salamè roared at his victory. I just shook my head, he's too excited. After Ash defeated Lasma, I brought out my Charizard to face his. After a tough match, mines won to even out the score a bit.

"Okay, it's your turn! Greninja!" Ash threw out his next pokéball. In a flash of light, his Greninja popped out.

"What? No transformation this time?" I raised a brow.

"I'm reserving that for a tight situation." he replied.

"This won't be any fun than. Salamè, Dragon Pulse!" I ordered. He took in a deep breath before a royal blue glow appeared in his mouth. He opened his mouth wide as rings blasted towards Greninja.

"Double Team!" Ash called out. In a blink of the eye, Greninja disappeared and about twenty more copies of him filled the battlefield. "Now use Night Slash!" all of the copies formed a purple spear in one of their hands and rushed towards Salamè.

"Stop the Dragon Pulse! Fly up!" I command. Salamè closed his mouth and shot up into the air. "Now! Use your wings and find the real one!" Using his wings to whip up the dust, Salamè flapped so hard, all but one of the copies faded away, leaving the real one to cover its eyes from the dust.

"Go! Wing Attack!" I yelled. Taking the cover of the dust cloud, Salamè dived down and tackled into Greninja with his glowing wings.

Greninja tumbled back before standing back up on his feet.

"Greninja! Are you okay?" Ash yelled out.

"Greninja." he gave a nod to his trainer.

"Come on Ash. Focus." I told him. "Now! Flamethrower!" Taking a deep breath, Salamè let out a roar and blast of fire at the same time. Taken by surprise, Greninja was pushed back by the extreme heat of the fire.

"Break it! Water Shuriken!" Ash ordered. Tumbling back on his feet, Greninja whipped his hands out and two stars made of water appeared in them. Dashing up towards Salamè Greninja threw the two before summoning two more. Salamè tried to block the first two Water Shurikens, but to no avail, and was caught by surprise when Greninja jumped up and slashed him with the other two.

"Salamè!" I yelled out. "Are you okay?!"

"Char!" he let out a roar as he got back on his feet.

"That's the spirit!" Ash exclaimed. "Greninja! Night Slash!"

"Don't let them! Use Slash!" I shouted. Holding his hands in front of him, Salamè's claws glowed white before extended. Greninja ran up towards him with a glowing purple sword in his hand. Blades clashed together as the two of them struggled to see who would go down first.

"Push it! Then use Water Shuriken!" Ash yelled out.

"Don't let them! Fire back with Flamethrower!" I shouted. Greninja pushed Salamè back before creating two Water Shurikens in his hands. He jumped up and threw them. Salamè took a deep breath before a stream of fire exited his mouth. The two attacks collided and steam covered the battlefield.

"Night Slash!" Through the steam, I saw a purple glow and heard a roar. When the steam cleared, Salamè was down for the count.

* * *

 **Gary's POV**

"This is starting to be too easy." I mumbled as I watched Venusaur take down Dan's Blaziken. He returned his pokémon before sending out his final pokémon out, an Infernape.

"Seems like this battle's coming to an end." Dan shouted over to me. I didn't respond back. I have a bad feeling about this guy for some reason. But that doesn't matter now. All I need to do is to win this battle. Even though he has a type advantage, Venusaur was able to take out two of his pokémon. His Charizard did a number on my first two, Electivire and Alakazam. Venusaur was able to knock that Charizard out before making quick work of his Blaziken.

"Use Mach Punch!" Dan ordered. In a flash, Infernape was punching Venusaur with a glowing fist.

"Use Razor Leaf." I said calmly. Wincing, Venusaur sprouted two vines from his flower tree and hoisted Infernape up. HIs flower tree began to ruffle as several razor sharp leaves flew out of it and pelted Infernape.

"Flamethrower!" Suddenly, Infernape opened up its open and released a blast of fire that made Venusaur drop him. Venusaur had a burn mark on top of his forehead. I gritted my teeth a bit. Blaziken didn't give Venusaur that much damage; neither did Charizard, but the Infernape may give Venusaur some problems.

"Synthesis." I told Venusaur. Roaring to the sky, Venusaur took energy from the thankful UV lights from the chandeliers and restored some energy.

"Fire Punch!" Dan shouted. Infernape ran towards Venusaur with a fist covered in flames.

"Earthquake." Venusaur brought his forelegs up and slammed them into the ground, creating an earth-shaking fissure. Cracks appeared around the battlefield as it branched towards Infernape.

"Jump over it!" Dan shouted. Infernape did as he said, but his foot slipped into a crack and he fell over.

"Frenzy Plant." Venusaur glowed green as thorned roots sprouted out of the cracks in the ground. They shot towards Infernape and wrapped tightly around him. "Razor Leaf." With Infernape trapped, Venusaur was free to do as much damage as he pleases

"Come on! You have to get out of there!" Dan yelled. "Flame Charge!" While struggling under the squeezing vines and sharp leaves, Infernape covered himself in flames before burning the roots away from him. Whenever a leaf made contact, it would just burn up. Infernape rushed towards Venusaur with rage in his eyes.

"Earthquake!" Seeing the mad monkey, Venusaur brought his legs up again and created another Earthquake that shook the entire battlefield. Unfortunately, Infernape dodged the attack by jumping up and tackling Venusaur. The impact pushed him back by a few feet.

"You okay?" I asked Venusaur. He turned back and gave me a nod. "Good. Use Synthesis." Glowing brightly, Venusaur healed his burns and injuries.

"Not that's getting a bit annoying." Dan gritted his teeth. He smirked when he saw the red glow around Infernape. Blaze. "Fire Punch!"

"Make a barrier with Frenzy Plant." I ordered. Venusaur finished healing and made several roots pop up from the ground. They crisscrossed each other until it made a wall. As much as Infernape kept on punching, it couldn't get through.

"Strike." Glowing green, Venusaur made several of the vines go for Infernape. When they did, Infernape let out a cry before fainting.

"I told you it was too easy." I smirked as I returned Venusaur.

"And it looks like all of our battles are over!" Charles announced. I walked away from the battlefield and towards the gang.

"Nice battle!" Barry commented.

"Thanks, but that guy was no problem." I replied. It's true. Dan focuses too much on attacks and it seems like he was brutal with it. Now I know that he's definitely up to no good. If only I could prove it.

"The contestants going on to the semifinals are-!" Charles announced as he gestured to the board. I saw me, Scarlett, Blue, and Ash up there. It should be good. We're all reunited. Just not in the way I wanted it to be. From how the brackets were set up, I would be going against Scarlett next while Blue is going to face Ash. I wish I can stop some of this. Just make it the way it was before.

"Hey! What's up with you?" Blue asked me. I nearly jumped. I simply blinked and looked towards her.

"Nothing. Just thinking." I shrugged.

"About what?" Blue asked. Geez, does she ever give up?

"None of your business." I replied.

"Aw! Come on Greenie! Don't be like that!" she pouted.

"Pesky woman." I muttered under my breath. "I have to heal my pokémon." I told her as I walked away.

"I'll join you!" Blue exclaimed as she skipped alongside me. I rolled my eyes as I headed towards the healing station. A couple of Nurse Joys were there healing pokémon for the tournament. I handed them my pokémon as blue did too.

We just stood there, saying nothing. Maybe people are right. I am boring.

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

I have to say, the battles are getting more intense as the rounds narrow down. At this point, I don't know who to cheer for. All of the semifinalists are my friends. Ugh. This is getting hard.

"Hey Yels." Gold snapped me out of my thoughts. "Do you want to watch Blue's match? It should be interesting with her against Ash."

"Nah." I shook my head. "I think I'm going to get some fresh air. It's getting so crowded in here anyways."

"Okay, but you're going to miss a really wicked battle!" Gold grinned at me before joining the already mass of people gathering the battlefields. I let out a sigh as I climbed the stairs to one of the balconies. When I stepped out there, I was surprised to see the ranger gang there.

"Hmm? Oh! Hey there, Yellow!" Summer waved over to me.

"Um, hi." I gave a small wave back as I walked towards them. "Why are you up here?"

"There were too many people down there with the battles going on." Kellyn explained.

"And they were getting a bit boring." Ben added. "No offense."

"It's fine." I said. "I'm not much of a battler. Now, if you said it to Gold or Black, then they'll go on a rant."

"So you mean like Kate and Keith when they compete on capturing?" Summer asked.

"Hey!"

"Oh you two know that I'm kidding!" she shushed them. "But in my opinion, they would look super cute as a couple." she whispered to me.

"Wow. You sound like Blue." I commented. I wonder who her little sidekick is. Or does she work alone?

"She's the matchmaker in your group?" she asked me.

"She has a little black book with all of our names in there." I sweatdropped.

"Sounds like we could be long lost relatives!" Summer joked.

"Yeah." I sweatdropped again.

"Actually, Rhythmi's the matchmaker. I'm her sidekick!" Summer exclaimed.

"So what brings you out here?" Keith asked me.

"Just some fresh air." I answered. "It seem like you guys are the only ones out here."

"Think again." Rhythmi pointed to the balcony next to us. I look over and saw Whi-Two and Lack-Two arguing about something. I think I can hear them from here.

"I think that it's a bad idea!" Lack shouted.

"Really?! You are not one to talk!" Whi shouted back.

"At least I'm not the one talking to a total stranger!"

"You're doing the same thing as me!"

"At least I got basic information out of her!"

"Yeah. Like their age is dependable. They could be lying for all you know!"

"Same thing to you!"

"Should we yell out to them?" Isaac asked.

"I would let them quiet it down a bit before trying to get their attention." I told him. They do quiet down. Hopefully soon. We waited around for a few more minutes, but Whi-Two and Lack-Two still hasn't stopped.

"When do you think they'll be done?" Keith asked.

"They argue more than me and my brother." Kate said.

"And that is saying a lot." Kellyn added.

I know the perfect thing to make them shut up. I took out my pokégear and sent the both of them a message. I closed it and waited for them to notice. As I suspected, when they heard their pokégear, they immediately stopped arguing and looked at them. When I'm sure they read the message, I waved my arms to get their attention. They rushed back inside and met with us on the balcony.

"Sorry. Were we that loud?" Whi asked.

"Sorta." Rhythmi shrugged.

"We actually heard every word you said from over here." Ben corrected.

"What were you guys even arguing about?" I asked.

"During homecoming weekend at the fair, we found some Xtransceivers and didn't know who they belonged to." Lack-Two explained.

"But their owners contacted us and told us to hold onto them for them. However, we didn't get to see their face, we only got their names." Whi-Two finished.

"Or so they say." Lack-Two added.

"Can't you just give trust a chance?" Whi-Two glared at him.

"I could, but I don't." he shrugged.

"So did you find anything else out?" I asked.

"A little. We had a few conversations each." Whi-Two nodded.

"They said that they have time during the tournament to get their Xtransceivers." lack added.

"When?" I asked.

"They'll message us. We were just arguing if we should meet them or not." Whi-Two explained.

"You guys have any ideas?" Lack-Two asked.

"I say meet them." Keith said.

"Really?" Kate looked at him.

"Yeah. At least they know that the owners are at the academy and not some random stranger in the world. It either has to be a student or teacher."

"But have you seen some of the students here? They're crazy." Kellyn pointed out.

"And most of the teachers seem too old to be just losing an important piece of technology." Isaac added.

"Did you try hacking into them? I heard the newer models have the owner's personal information on them." Summer asked.

"We tried, but we needed a password." Whi-Two answered.

"And when we tried to get through that, it was all professionally encrypted. I couldn't get through it." Lack-Two added.

"Was there anything else you know about them?" Ben asked.

"They gave us their names, but they sounded like nicknames to me." Lack said.

"Well, something is better than nothing." I said.

"Christ and Cia." Whi-Two said. "Do you think they could be one of the students? Their voices sound somewhat familiar."

"Let's just think about it." Summer said. "Do we know anyone whose name sounds like that?"

We just stood around for a while. I did my best to think, but nothing really came up.

"The only people I can come up with are Curtis and Yancy." Ben finally said.

"The guy who blew up a bomb in Whi's face is her mystery man?" Lack-Two said.

"Can you not bring that up anymore?!" Whi screamed at him. "And isn't Yancy your little crush?" I could see Lack's face getting red.

Suddenly, two rings broke the silence. Whi-Two and Lack-Two brought out two Xtransceivers and looked at them. "Seems like we're meeting them now." Whi said.

"Well, good luck." Keith waved at them. We all waved as the two exited.

* * *

 **Whi-Two's POV**

"Where did yours say?" I asked Lack.

"Highest floor. West side." he answered. "You?"

"Highest floor. East." I replied. "I guess we can't spy on each other than."

"Just be safe." he said as we walked up the floor.

"You too." I said as we went our separate ways. I stopped just before walking out on the balcony. I took a deep breath. I've been waiting a while for this and over the time since I found the Xtransceiver, I've had talks with the owner. He sounded so sweet, kind, and caring. I'm sure he's not one to harm anyone. I can trust him. I felt a blush creep up my face as I thought about him. No! I shook it away. This is not the time to develop feelings.

I stepped out on the balcony and saw a greenet with his back to me. He was looking over the railing. I walked closer to him. "Christ?"

The boy turned around. He was in a male Unfezant costume. His face block most of his facial features, save for his green eyes. I thought I saw surprise in his eyes, but that quickly went away. "You are Whi-Two?" he asked me.

"Yes." I nodded. I held out the Xtransceiver to him. "I believe this is yours."

He smiled at me. "Thank you." he said as he picked up the Xtransceiver. His fingers brushed across my hand and I couldn't help but blush. Oh my Arceus, why is this happening to me?

"May I know the real name of the owner?" I asked him. I know it's foolish, but I just have to. I've wait for so long.

"Since you took care of my Xtransceiver for so long and gave me so much trust, I supposed I can." he smirked. "But I won't."

I blinked. He said all that nice stuff, shared me his secrets, told me everything about him, but he couldn't give me his fucking name?!

As I was about to scream, he interrupted me. "Instead, I would like to show you." his hand covered his mask as he went to take it off. When it did, I gasped.

"C-Curtis?" I was shocked. He was the one?

"Yes, it's me." he smiled at me.

"Oh my Arceus, why didn't I see it before?!" I scolded myself as I covered my face, red from embarrassment. "Your voice! Your interests! Your nickname! Wait, why 'Christ'?"

"Actually, it is a nickname from another name of mines." Curtis said.

"Another name? What you do mean by that?" I asked.

"I'm sure you would know about that. After all, you caught my eye ever since we met, Rosa." he winked.

I nearly fainted. He knows my name. My _real_ name. I never told anyone about that. And I mean _no one_. Then it clicked. The only person who could possibly know me before this and would fit that name is-

"Christoph."

"That's my stage name." he said sheepishly. This time, I actually did faint.

* * *

 **Lack-Two's POV**

"So, if I get this right, you're the world pop icon Nancy, but that's only your stage name and your real name is Yancy?"

"Seems about right." she nodded.

"And you know about my real name all along."

"Ever since your sister set up the personal birthday concert for you and your twin sister."

"Oh. So you know about White too?"

"She doesn't stop her show business even when she's undercover. But don't worry. She knows that we know. We can trust us with your secret."

"Us?"

"My brother Curtis too."

 _Ring!_

"Speaking of which, that's him." Yancy looked down at her Xtransceiver I gave her. She picked it up. "What's up?"

"Um. I think I need you and Nate over here." Curtis said from the other line.

"Why?" Yancy asked.

"Just come." he said. "And maybe with a water pokémon." he hung up.

"Do you mind?" Yancy asked me.

"Not at all." I shook my head. I followed her to the East balcony. I have to admit, this is a bit of information to take in. Seriously, I just thought of these people as shy, not world pop stars. Maybe I'm not so good at reading people as I thought. When we got on the East balcony, I saw Curtis supporting a fainted Whi.

"What happened to her?" I asked as I kneeled by her side.

"She fainted when I told her my real true identity." Curtis explained.

"She was always one to faint." I sighed as I called Samurott out here. I told him to blast Whi with some water.

"Ah!" she sat up screaming. "What happened?!"

"Hello!" Yancy waved at her.

"Oh my Arceus, that wasn't a dream!" Whi-Two sighed.

"It's nice to see you awake again." Curtis smiled at her. I glared at him. Hey, he may be a nice guy, but I'm still overprotective over my sister.

"Curtis?" Whi-Two said before she suddenly gasped. "Oh my Arceus!" she backed away from him. "I can't believe I acted like that in front of you! I am such an idiot! Why did I do that in front of the person I like?!"

I just stared at her as she processed what she said. "Oh my Arceus! I didn't just say that, did I?!"

"Unfortunately so." Yancy said. "Seems like your crush likes you too, Curtis." she winked at him. Now he was blushing.

"Wait, you like me too?" Whi asked him.

"I did say you have my eye ever since you gave me back my Xtransceiver the first time." he smiled at her.

"Oh! Um..." Whi-two just blushed redder than I've seen her.

"Oh this is going nowhere." I rolled my eyes. "Normally, I wouldn't suggest this, but in this case, I can make an exception. Just ask her out."

"Lack-Two! Life does not go that way!" Yancy scolded me.

"Yes it does." I countered. "Like this; Yancy, will you go out with me?"

"Oh! Well, I didn't mean you would do it to me!" she blushed.

"Your answer?" I asked.

"Yes." she nodded.

"See. That easy." I crossed my arms.

"Whi-Two, would you go out with me? I mean you don't have to, but-"

"'Yes." Whi-Two cut him off. "I'll go out with you."

"See? Everyone's happy." I clapped my hands. I turned around to face Yancy, but then I see her snickering.

"What?" I asked her. She pointed behind me. I turned back around again to see Curtis kissing my sister. Now the overprotective part of me took over. Before I could break it up, I felt Yancy grab my arm. She shook her head. Honestly, I have to say that she looks really cute in that female Unfezant costume of hers. I stopped stepping towards Curtis and Whi-Two and wrapped my arm around Yancy's waist. We just stood there watching our siblings make out. Normally I would be mad, but with Yancy, I feel okay with it.

Suddenly, Yancy grabbed my chin and my lips met hers. Holy Arceus.

* * *

 **How many of you saw that coming? Hmm? No one? Okay. I guess that was a bit rushed and unexpected, but hey, even though I never played Black and White 2, I still ship it. The way they present it in the games is so cute I couldn't not put it in. And if I followed the manga ships, then that would be incest and I am NOT into that. That's just my own opinion and I don't mean to offend anyone.**

 **The battles were a bit hard for me to write so I'm sorry if they seemed rushed or lacking in much of the action. I really tried my best, but battles aren't my strong suit.**

 **Other than that, nothing much happened in this chapter. However, I am just giving all of you a warning for the next one. The next chapter will discuss some sensitive topics, so if you have anxiety reading or anything else relating to a sensitive topic, then I would suggest skipping over some parts in the next chapter. But you don't have to worry about that now; I'll give another warning in the next update.**

 **Nothing graphic happens, but it's just a warning. Okay?**

 **Other than that, pleae leave a review! They help push me to keep going!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	37. Halloween: Part Six

**Hello everyone! Ah, I can feel the winter chill! And I sorta hate how cold it is.**

 **However, that does not lower my busy lifestyle. With sports, theater, and overall schoolwork, I'm working myself to the bone. Although I'm sure most of you should know that already with how much I complain in these Author's Notes.**

 **Whatever. Let's get to the reviews!**

 **.18: Since Ash already has Charizard and Blue has Blastoise, I just thought I would make the trio complete by giving Venusaur to Gary. Make sense? And I'm sorry, but you're not going to have a chance to see Ash adn Blue's battle. I am not that good at writing battles adn I tend to run out of ideas very quickly when it comes to battles. I do have some ideas in the future for trainers getting involved in the fight themselves, but you just have to wait for that. Yellow does rememeber, but she just likes to keep quiet about it. Unlike Blue, she thinks before she acts and doesn't want to cause trouble.**

 **Redstar: Sorry, but I have differnt ideas for part six as you're about to see here. The anime gang are primarily going to have their teams from the anime, but I will be adding some manga pokemon in there for some of them. For Ash, he may not get a version of Vee since Red has Vee already, but maybe Poli and Lapras. I'm not too sure yet.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I feel like all of my surprises at this point are all predictable. Especially with the relatives as you mentioned. But I assure you, those two are not related in any way at all. Though if they do team up, only Arceus can stop them.**

 **Thank you all for giving me your feedback, but do keep in mind that again, I probably wrote these chapters a year or more ago, so it may not be my best work in terms of plot and story. I'm just glad that I wrote so many chapters ahead since I hardly have any time to write as of late. And thank you all for being so patient with me. I know that I can only update this story once every month but you still support me. So thank you for that.**

 **I think I stalled long enough, let's get on to the chapter, but as I mentioned last chapter, there are some sensitive topics in this chapter, so I will be giving a warning after the disclaimer.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything I refer to. I only own my OCs.**

 **WARNING!: This chapter contains topics on sexual assault, rape, and the aftermath of which. There is nothing graphic pertaining to it, but there are mentions. If you do not wish to read such content, then please skip Scareltt's first POV which is after Pika's and before Satoshi's. Again, nothing acutally happens, but if you are triggered by such topics, then I suggest skipping her first POV.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 **Pika's POV**

" _Come on! Turn on the TV!"_ I told Char.

" _I'm trying to, but these buttons are too small!"_ he complained.

" _Use your claws!"_ Saur suggested.

" _That's what I'm doing!"_ Char exclaimed.

" _Why not ask Parasee to help?"_ Tor suggested. " _I'm sure he'll happy to help."_

 _"_ _No way! His eyes scare me! They look like zombie eyes!"_ Char exclaimed. " _No offense."_

 _"_ _None taken. I get it all the time. I'm fine with it."_ Parasee waved his claws around.

" _Okay. This is going nowhere."_ I sighed. I turned around to face the crowd of pokémon in the backyard. We brought a TV out to watch the tournament matches that were being broadcasted for some reason. " _Who here can use a remote?"_

" _Give me the remote."_ Sceptile walked up. He swiped it away from Char.

" _Hey! I almost got it!"_ Char protested.

" _Key word being 'almost'."_ Sceptile countered as he sat back down as he used his smaller claw to push the 'On' button on the remote. When he did, the TV flickered to life. He turned it to the academy's channel. I sat on Saur who was between Tor and Char. Kitty, Bonee, Chino-chan, and Li'l Kanga were on Saur as well to watch the battles.

" _See what you made us miss?!"_ Tula exclaimed. " _We missed all the battles!"_

 _"_ _No! Wait! There's one more!"_ Jiggly told him. " _Oh! I see Scarlett!"_

 _"_ _Who's that guy across from her?"_ Clefy asked.

" _"_ _I think that's Ash."_ Kanga said. " _I remember X facing him a few times during classes."_

 _"_ _Wow! This should be a good battle!"_ I exclaimed.

" _Ah! Ahhh! Ah!"_ Xatee suddenly cawed.

" _What's the matter with you, old bird?!"_ Ursaring snapped at him.

" _I see it! I see the future! I see the past!"_ Xatee stated as his eyes glowed blue and he spread out his wings. " _Two born as one shall meet again! But be warned! Darkness is coming! One is the darkness, the other is the light! One will be gone from this world forever!"_

 _"_ _Are you talking about those two?"_ Jiggly pointed to Scarlett and Ash.

" _I don't see anyone he could be talking about. He started his prophecy when they came on the screen."_ Parasee pointed out.

I looked towards Char, Tor, and Saur.

" _Do you think he's talking about Ashley?"_ Tor whispered.

" _He did say that one will be gone. And we all know about her condition."_ Char pointed out.

" _Listen to yourselves!"_ I exclaimed. " _This is Ashley we're talking about! Our trainer! She won't be gone. She's stronger than that. Besides, she's an only child."_

 _"_ _Actually, there's something my father told me."_ Saur spoke up.

" _He told you something? When?"_ Tor asked.

" _Well, not really told me. He just showed me a photo. An old one. I didn't know what was going on, but I did know the people in the photo."_

 _"_ _Tell us then."_ Char urged. " _We need to know if this really affects Ashley."_

" _Okay."_ Saur sighed. " _Don't tell anyone this, and I mean anyone, but in the photo were Ashley before she changed her look, Leaf, Gary, and Ash."_

 _"_ _You're kidding!"_ I gasped.

" _I'm sorry, but it's true. I know what I saw and I saw them. They were all like five."_ Saur said.

 _"_ _The next time I see my dad, I am so asking him about this!"_ sparks flew out of my cheeks.

" _Pika! Didn't you hear what he just said? We can't tell anyone."_ Tor scolded me.

" _Fine."_ I huffed.

" _So that means that they all knew each other?"_ Char asked.

" _I think means Ash and Ashley are the two."_ Tor said. " _I remember Blasty saying something about twins and Ketchum."_

 _"_ _Oh my Arceus."_ I gasped. This can't be true. It can't be!

" _No way! She was so close to winning!"_ I turned my attention to the TV to see Mew collapsed on the battlefield. Mew lost? Mew? Lost?!

"And that concludes that tournament! It looks like we found our winner!" the announcer said.

" _Oh man, Mew put up such a good fight too. Too bad that Greninja was really fast. I bet Scarlett would've crushed him!"_ Polibo said.

As the other pokémon chose what to watch next, I tuned them out. How? How can my dad kept something so important away from me? And Red! He kept this from his own daughter! No, make that daughter and son! Oh my Arceus, what are we going to do?

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

"You did your best, Mew. That's all I ask for." I told her as I scooped her up in my arms.

" _Well, his pokémon did put up one hell of a fight. It was really fun though!"_ she smiled at me.

"Come on. Let's get you all healed up." I told her as I walked over to my friends. They were all on the side waiting for me.

"Nice try, Scar. I know you did your best out there." Blue told me.

"It wasn't me. My pokémon did all the work. They deserve all the credit." I told her.

"Do you want me to heal your pokémon?" Yellow asked.

"I couldn't ask that of you. You deserve to enjoy the rest of the gala without being tired. I can just bring them over to the healing station." I said. She nodded and I walked over to the healing station. I gave the Nurse Joys my fainted pokémon, after I returned Mew to her pokéball of course, and within a few seconds, they were all healed thanks to the machines they had.

I walked away from the healing station and saw Ash on the main stage accepting his prizes for winning the tournament, a trophy and a 10000 PKD gift card to use around town. I'm sure he's going to use that at our café since he always eats there.

I let out all of my pokémon. They looked confused on why so.

 _Hey. Why are you letting us out?_ Rio asked.

"Since the tournament is over, I'm letting all of you wander out the hall for the rest of the gala. Remember not to cause trouble. I'm looking at you, Mew." I said.

" _Me? Why, I am offended that-! Are any of you buying this?"_ she replied.

 _Not one bit._ Rio spoke for us.

"Now, behave." I told them. "And Mew, get rid of this tail and ears. Now."

" _You're no fun._ " She pouted, but got rid of them anyways.

"Good. Have fun!" I told them as I walked away. As I walked around, I noticed other trainers letting out their pokémon. Even the rangers. I smiled. It looks like everyone is enjoying themselves.

I spotted at the one of the snack tables to see Gold diving into a giant pumpkin filled with candy. Looks like more people are crowding around it. I have a feeling no one is going to sleep after tonight.

"Alright people!" Blue stood on stage. "Now that the tournament is over, it's time to unmask ourselves! On three. One, two, three!" on that count, everyone took off their masks. I was happy when I took off mines. I was getting a bit sweaty under there. I noticed that some people were surprised to see who was who, but that was part of the fun.

I walked around some more, watching people having fun. It was so peaceful. So happy. I wish it can just stay this way. Everyone is fine and no one has problems. I looked towards the dance floor to see Silver dancing with Lyra. I nearly let out a squeal when I saw them since they actually looked cute, but I just settled for taking a picture. Blue would definitely want to see this later.

I walked towards a less crowded area of the hall. There were some doors leading to some rooms in this part. But I suspected that since they did need to clean this place up. Speaking of which, who's going to clean the mess the school made when we're all done here?

I noticed a door was slightly open. It was open about two inches and I was confused. Shouldn't all of these doors be locked? Blue made sure of that when we prepared the hall for the gala. I opened the door some more and walked in. I couldn't see anything in here, even with the light pouring in from the door.

"Hello? Is there anyone in here?" I asked out loud. I didn't receive an answer. Surely there must be someone in here for the door to be open.

I heard a creak and turned around to see the door close. The only light in here now is the thin line from under the door. I rushed towards it and tried the knob. It was locked tight though. "Oh come on! This is seriously impossible!" I turned back around to the dark room, my back on the door. "I know that someone is in here. Just show yourself, unlock the door, and I won't tell anyone." I heard a sound coming from one of the corners of the room. Using the walls to guide me, I slowly made my way over. "Hello?"

Suddenly, I felt someone pin me to the wall roughly. I groaned a bit. My head banged against the wall. I felt both of my wrists held above me and my assailant breathing in my face.

"I told you I always get what I want." someone whispered into my ear. A shiver went down my spine. My blood went cold as the voice spoke. It was a male, no doubt about that.

"Vincent." I gasped. Damn bastard. I tried to move my hands to slap him or something, but his grip was too strong. I brought my knee up to kick him, but one of legs slammed it back to the wall.

"Now, there's no need for any of that." he said seductively. I can almost see that sick smile on his face. He moved my hand directly above my head and pinned them with one of his hands. "I'm so glad you stepped away for a bit. I'm really happy that we're alone."

"Go to hell, you bastard." I spat at him. I closed my eyes, trying to find anything, but nothing. I can't focus like this. I can't sense anything.

"Now. No need for harsh language." I can feel his hand trail down from behind my ear, down to my neck, and stopped right at my breasts. I struggled as his hand pressed right in between them. "I think you'll feel more comfortable without this."

"No. Stop it!" I begged as his hand snaked to my back and undid the hooks. I wish I could do something, but I can't. I can't use my aura without getting caught. With these feelings in me, it would react in a loud blast that's big enough to destroy the entire hall!

His hand went under my dress as he pulled my strapless bra out easily. "We don't need that anymore." Vincent threw it somewhere in the room. I let out a small gasp as his hand groped my breast. "That's much better."

"Please stop it..." I pleaded with him. I felt tears building up in my eyes. This can't be happening. It can't.

"Why would I do that? I've only just begun." I shivered as he brought his mouth close to my face. I felt him squeeze even harder as his lips clashed with mines. I tried to stop it, but he kept on pushing. I feel so useless.

He stopped as I let out a sob. HIs hand explored my chest as I trembled. His hand finally stopped, travelled down my waist, and went down to my stomach. He pressed hard on it and I let out a breath. "What a beautiful figure you have. Perfect for a child." he said smoothly.

"No..." my eyes snapped open. "Don't!"

I lost all feelings as Vincent's hand went down to the inside of my thighs. "And of course, there's only one way to do that."

"No! Please! No! Stop it!" I nearly screamed. Tears were flowing down my face at this point. I can't handle it. It can't end like this.

"It's such a shame an innocent girl like you never have known the pleasure of a man before. But that all ends tonight. When I'm done with you, you won't be so innocent anymore." I could see his smirk. I finally went limp. I can't believe it. I can't believe that it's actually happening. I just cried since I couldn't do anything else. I am useless. I'm defeated.

* * *

 **Satoshi's POV**

I walked around the hall. I have to say, the council really made this night magical. I spotted Scarlett's Mew flying above everyone. I noticed that she was heading towards me.

"Hello Mew." I greeted her. "How are you enjoying the party?"

" _There's no time for that!"_ she exclaimed.

"Excuse me?"

" _S-Scarlett. She's in trouble!"_ Mew panicked.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" I turned serious. What's happening with my daughter?!

" _Just come on!"_ Mew flew away. I ran after her. I pushed through the crowd until we were at a deserted area of the hall. No one ever comes this way so no one would ever notice anyone was gone. " _She's in here!"_ Mew stopped in front of a door.

I pressed my ear up to the door and listened for anything.

"No! Please! No! Stop it!" those were Ashley's screams.

"...pleasure of a man." I didn't know whose voice that was, but I've heard enough. I stepped away from the door and ran into it. The door popped open and when I looked inside. I spotted a boy pinning Ashley to the wall. I spotted a bra lying across the room.

Rage filled me as I picked up the boy by the collar and slammed him into the wall "What the hell is going on in here?! Why the hell are you in here with my daughter?!" I growled at him.

"Just some fun." it was that Vincent fellow. He had the nerves to give me a smirk. I slammed him into the wall again.

"If I ever see you near her again, you're dead." I snarled as I threw him to the floor. With that, he picked himself up and scurried out the room. I looked back at my daughter. She was covering her chest with her arms as she was crying. She was sitting on her legs on the floor.

"Ashley." I kneeled down to her.

"Daddy!" she wrapped her arms around me. "I-I'm s-so sorry!" she cried into my shoulder.

"Shh... shh. It's not your fault, sweetie." I held her in an embrace. I stroked her hair to calm her. "It's going to be okay. It's okay. Your dad's here."

"I-I'm so stupid. I-I'm useless!" she sobbed.

"No. No you're not. You didn't know this would happen. Don't blame yourself." I reassured her. It pains me to see Ashley in a state like this. I wish I was here earlier. I wish I could always protect her. A father should never let his daughter go through anything like that. She was right I should be more of a father to her.

I stood up with Ashley in my arms, bridal style. Her head was resting on my chest as her tears wet the dress shirt I had on. I gestured for Mew to come closer. "Take us back to her room. After that, take me back here and bring Rio and Sol to her." I told her.

" _Okay."_ she nodded. " _I'll make sure she'll be alright."_ In a flash of light, we were in Ashley's room in her house. I walked over to her bed and set her down there. Instantly, she curled up in a ball with her knees up at her chest. I sat down next to her and comforted her.

"I should've listened to you." she said quietly.

"Aly, don't blame yourself. You couldn't have stopped it in anyway." I said. "Did he do anything to you?"

She shook her head. "I was lucky when you came in." I hate to see her like this. When I thought she was finally happy, that bastard came in and ruined her life. I stood up and walked over to Mew. With a nod, we were back at the hall. I sent Mew to find the rest of her pokémon while I went back into the crowd.

After some searching, I found the person I was looking for. "Chairperson Erma." I cleared my throat.

"Oh. Hello there Satoshi." she turned around and greeted me.

"May I have a word with you privately?" I asked her.

"Why of course." she nodded. I helped her make her way to one of the balconies. "Now, what is it you wish to talk to me about?"

"It's about your grandson, Vincent." I said.

"Oh? Did something happen?" she asked me.

"Yes. _He_ happened." I stated. "I found him trying to rape my daughter."

"Oh, I see." she looked disappointed. "I told them that boy was too spoiled. I thought I raised my own children to make smart decision."

"I would kindly like to ask you not have him anywhere near Ashley again. I know that she clearly rejected him during their marriage meeting, but he still hasn't gotten that through that empty head of his. I never want to see him again near my daughter. She is already traumatized, but whatever he did to her pushed it to another level."

"I understand. Trust me. I will take care of that boy." Erma gave me a stern nod.

"I hope so." I said as I walked away.

How can Ashley recover from this? Can she ever recover?

* * *

 **Rio's POV**

" _Oh thank Arceus I found you two!"_ Mew exclaimed as she flew over to Sol and I.

" _What's the matter?"_ Sol asked her.

" _It's Scarlett."_ Mew's eyes looked urgent.

 _What happened to her?_ I asked.

" _I-I can't tell you. You just need to come with me."_ Mew said. What's so important that she can't even tell us?

 _Okay._ I nodded after sharing a look with Sol. _Take us to her._

A flash of pink light later, we were back in Scarlett's room at the academy. I looked around and saw Scarlett herself curled up in her bed, crying.

 _Oh my Arceus! Scarlett!_ I rushed over to her. _What happened to you?!_

 _"_ _She's been traumatized."_ Mew said sadly.

" _By who?"_ Sol asked.

" _Take a guess."_ Mew said. When she said that. I growled.

 _Vincent. I'll rip him apart for what he did!_ I snarled. I knew that he was trouble. We both knew it, but did nothing.

"R-Rio, no." Scarlett grabbed my arm. I looked up at her and saw her eyes all red and puffy from crying. "My dad's already going to kill him for what he did and I don't want one of my best friends put down for harming a human."

 _Fuck them! That bastard put you in that state and he deserves what's coming to him!_ I exclaimed.

" _Mew. Get the others. They need to know."_ Sol said calmly.

" _I think they'll all in the backyard. I'll get them."_ Mew said as she flew out of the window.

"I'm going to get cleaned up." Scarlett said as she got off the bed and into the bathroom.

" _Oh Arceus. I've never seen her like this before."_ Sol sighed.

 _I am serious. That boy is dead the next time I see him._ I growled as I leaned against Scarlett's dresser.

" _Rio. You heard her. We can't do anything to him."_ Sol scolded me.

 _Then what are we supposed to do then?! Let him walk free? The son of a bitch raped our trainer!_ I exclaimed.

" _He was trying to."_ Mew corrected me as she flew in. " _But he didn't get the chance. Red stopped him in time. I was lucky to pick up on her distress when I did."_

 _"_ _Where is she?!"_ Pika exclaimed as she hopped in through the window. I looked out and saw Char hovering near it.

" _Bathroom. Where are Saur and Tor?"_ Sol asked.

" _They're still down there. I'll tell them everything when I get back down."_ Char explained.

Scarlett finally walked out of the bathroom with her clothes changed. Instead of the dress she wore, she had on black sweatpants with a red t-shirt with a black hoodie over it.

" _Scarlett!"_ Pika jumped into her arms.

"Hi there Pika. I guess you missed me." Scarlett gave a small smile as she sat on the bed.

" _Well, a little, but I heard what happened!"_ Pika said.

"I've just had the worst night ever. I just want to go asleep." Scarlett sighed. "Mew? Do you think you can stay a while with me? I know you have duties to do around the world, but still."

" _I'll stay as long as you need me. Don't you worry about a thing."_ Mew said as she landed on Scarlett's head.

"Thanks." Scarlett giggled lightly before she lay down in her bed. Pika curled up next to her while Mew wrapped her tail around Scarlet's hands as she fell asleep near her head. I walked over to Scarlett's dresser and gave Char his and the others' pokéballs. He flew down and then up again with two pokéballs in his hands. He handed them to me before I returned him. I placed them on the dresser again. Sol was already curled up near the foot of Scarlett's bed, ready to jump up at any moment.

Scarlett was breathing deeply, signaling she was deep asleep. I walked next to her bed and brought the blanket over her body. After smoothing it out, I sat on the floor. I leaned against one of the night stands and closed my eyes. She's not getting hurt again. Not on my watch.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I woke up to the sound of my pokégear ringtone.

 ** _If we just stay together!_**

Arceus, why did I ask Emerald to record that and program it for my ringtone? Still sleepy, I sat up and picked it up. "Hello?" I let out a small whisper. It was so quiet, I barely heard myself.

"Hi Scarlett. This is Cynthia. Sorry if I woke you up." Cynthia said.

I looked over at the clock. It was only seven in the morning. "Oh no. You didn't." I told her.

"Well, I'm just calling to see if you're still good to attend your lesson today." she said. "Your father told me about what you went through last night." I shuddered as I tried to block the memory.

"No, I'm fine. I can still attend the lesson as normal." I replied after I bit my bottom lip, wrapping my other arm around myself.

"Are you sure?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes. I'm sure. I'll be fine. I'm not trying to let that affect me." I said.

"Okay than. I'll see you at the lesson then." Cynthia hung up. I sighed as I closed my pokégear. I looked around and saw all of my pokémon still sleeping. As quietly as I can, I got out of bed and stepped into the bathroom.

I took a shower and I tried to get the dirt feeling off of me from last night. I swear, I used up half of my shampoo when I did. I finished my morning routine and got dressed. I decided on wearing something looser than what I usually wore. That means a pair of flared black jeans, a red t-shirt (different from what I slept in), a grey jacket perfect for the fall weather, black combat boots, and a red scarf around my neck. I kept my hair down. I went back into my room for my glasses and made out the shapes of my pokémon waking up.

"Good morning guys." I told them as I placed my glasses on.

 _You're up early._ Rio remarked.

" _You okay from last night?"_ Mew asked.

"I'm not letting that define me long. Of course it's basically seared in my mind, but I'm hoping to get over it soon." I said. Inside, I feel a bit depressed. I can't believe I let it happen to me of all people. At least it wasn't anyone who actually couldn't do a thing to stop it. I could've. "Anyways, get inside your pokeballs. We're going out. Mew, you can fly around, but stay close and be invisible." I said.

" _Fine."_ she pouted as she became invisible. I felt her on my left shoulder with her tail wrapped around my neck. Pika claimed my other shoulder as Rio and Sol went into their pokeballs. I clipped them onto my pokebelt and clicked it around my hip.

I opened my door and looked both ways. I didn't see Blue or Yellow coming. I assume people are still sleeping due to it being a Saturday. The café would be closed so none of the gang would be up soon. As quietly as I could, I went downstairs, grabbed a quick snack for breakfast and went outside.

A cold breeze met me as I exited the house. Good thing I wore a scarf today.

" _Wow that was cold!"_ Mew exclaimed.

"There's a cold winter ahead of us." I muttered as I walked down the street. No one else sane was out in this weather this early. The skies were overcast, adding no additional heat from the sun. I tried to put on a happy face for my pokémon. I don't know what to feel right now. I never had to face anything like last night. I can defend myself, but last night, I couldn't. I don't care what my dad said, it was my fault.

After a few minutes, I walked into town and looked up. It was deserted here too. I wrapped my arms around myself. I feel alone. It was futile trying to warm myself up. The cold air touched my skin even under all the layers of clothes I have on. I kept walking towards the meeting spot for my lesson. I kept my head low and watched my feet as they took me to where I needed to be.

I looked up to see the building I need to be at. I pushed open the door and found Cynthia, Steven, Mason, and my dad standing near a staircase, talking.

"Dad?" I said. When I did, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. "What are all of you talking about?"

"Nothing honey." Dad said. "I just didn't expect you here so soon."

"And I didn't know you would be here either." I said as I walked up to them. "I heard from Cynthia you told them about last night."

"Just in case you need some comfort, Scarlett. That's all." Cynthia said.

"We were also discussing that address you gave to Mason." Steven said as he placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Oh. Right. I nearly forgot about that." I averted my eyes away. "And Dad, while you're there, can you check? I haven't been home in a while."

"I was already going to." he nodded. "I should let the girls get to their lesson."

"Yes. Scarlett, if you can just follow me." Cynthia walked up the stairs. I followed her, but not without a last look at Mason. He was looking away to the side, outside a window. He didn't bother looking at me when I first entered.

He didn't say a single word while they were talking. I looked back up. I don't want to know how he feels about all of this.

I followed Cynthia up the stairs and we entered a room. It was rather simple with a couch in the middle and a coffee table in front of it. To the side was a table and chairs with it set with plates, cups, and eating utensils.

"Come. I think we should talk a little first." Cynthia gestured towards the couch.

"I don't need any counseling." I said as I sat down. Pika climbed down from my shoulder and into my lap. "I'm not that traumatized, but I didn't enjoy it one bit. I just want to forget about it."

"I understand, but that's not what I meant." Cynthia said as she sat next to me. "I want us to spend the first fifteen minutes of all of our lessons talking about whatever problems you may have. Now, it doesn't have to be about school; it can be about your personal life."

"And why would you want to do that?" I asked. Right after I said that, I mentally slapped myself. That sounded so rude.

"I may not be a substitute for your mother, but I am going to be your mother-in-law and I want to have some quality time with my future daughter-in-law to get to know her better." she answered.

"I see." I said quietly. "I suppose that's alright."

"Good." Cynthia nodded. "Now, is there anything you want to talk to about?"

"I don't think so." I shook my head.

"I know that's not true. A girl always has something to talk about especially when she has a single father. There are things a girl would want to talk to another female about." Cynthia smiled.

"Okay." I said, my voice hollow. "There is something that's on my mind, but it's kind of embarrassing."

"I won't judge you here." Cynthia said. "I'll do enough of that when the wedding comes." I let out a small laugh when she said that.

"Well, it's about a boy." I said quietly. I can hear Mew giggle silently, so I brushed her off my shoulder and she landed on the couch.

" _Hey!_ " she complained as she flew up to my face, revealing herself.

"Couldn't you have waited until I finished?" I scowled at her.

"Continue." Cynthia laughed as Mew landed on my head.

"I guess my dad told you about the situation I'm in and all of my friends." I looked up and saw Cynthia nod. "And that I agreed to this whole marriage thing to help them out. When I did, Dad said that even though I'm engaged, it's only an arranged marriage and I'm free to choose who I date up till the wedding."

"I see where this is going." Cynthia said with a smile. "This is about Xavier, isn't it?"

"What?! No!" I quickly felt my face blush. I shook my head violently and it caused Mew to fall off.

" _Oh please. Why are you even denying it? We all know you like him."_ Mew said in a huff after she tumbled down and sat on the couch.

"Shut up!" I exclaimed.

"Scarlett honey, it's okay." Cynthia told me.

"Really?" I looked up at her.

"Of course." she nodded. "You should've really seen the arranged marriage between Alder's daughter and Professor Rowan's son. It was truly fire and ice, and they each dated about ten people before their wedding."

"Wow." I said. "Then why is Benga more like Alder?"

"Rowan's son was always away, doing research, studying overseas, and helping Rowan, so he was never really around to teach his own son to behave like a gentleman or a little more civil in public. As I said, fire and ice." Cynthia answered.

"I see." I said quietly. "But wait, how do you know X's full name?"

"I have access to all of the students' records. It wasn't hard." she answered. Now I feel idiotic.

"So how would you feel if I saw someone while I'm still engaged to Mason?" I asked her.

"I would be okay with it. After all, a girl only lives once in her teenage years. I think you deserve that chance too." Cynthia said. "And he seems like a good boy too. I'm actually rooting for you guys."

"Oh my Arceus. You sound so much like Blue right now." I groaned as I buried my face in my hands.

"Oh please. This is nothing. Just wait until I start planning the wedding. You are going to try on so many dresses." Cynthia laughed. I gulped. Uh, are the fifteen minutes up yet? "It seems like we have time for one more question before we start your lesson. Any other questions or issues?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Does anyone else know about last night?" I said quietly.

"No." I looked up and saw Cynthia stare out of the window. "No one else at school knows about it and they will not know about it. The only people who know are the ones trying to fix the problem."

I let a small smile grace my face. "Thank you."

"Now, let's get to the lesson, shall we?" Cynthia stood up. "Since this is your first lesson, I thought we start out easy. Lesson Number 1: Dinner manners." she walked over to the set table and I followed her.

"Mew, Pika, you two can relax a bit until we're done." I said. I looked over at the coffee table and found a remote. "Watch some TV or something." I told them as I passed them the remote.

" _We would let us sit in front of a screen and rot our brains?"_ Mew asked.

"Would you rather sit through this lesson with me?" I retorted.

" _So what do you want to watch, Pika? I heard_ Unova's Got Talent _is pretty good."_ Mew said as she sat down on her couch next to Pika.

I silently laughed at them. Even in the darkest times, mypokemon can always cheer me up. I walked back over to the table and sat down across from Cynthia. "I'm ready to begin my lesson."

* * *

 **And there we go. A little on the depressing side, but I think it goes well. Again, I am sorry to have put such material in the story, but in terms of character development, I wanted to put it in. This story is rated a medium to high T for those who do not know. There will be more grpahic content in the future, but it will be nothing like this.**

 **If any of you think that it was out of nowhere, just think back to Vincent's character. I'm sure it will make sense once you look back and see how he is.**

 **Now that this super long arc is finished, we can further advance in teh sotry. I honestly had fun writing this arc. I was able to put in some things that I wanted to add to the story in this one arc. Who knew so much can happen in just one night?**

 **However, that's all for this story today. A new chapter will probably come out next month or at the end of this one. Who knows? I go by my schedule.**

 **I nearly forgot to mention, in these past two weeks, I have been apprached to create an OC for a new story wirtten by IVergilI who, in my opinion, have very good potential when it comes to storytelling. OCs are still needed for the sotry, but I have already submitted mines and I feel like my OC is one of the best I have ever made and I have fallen in love with her. For more information, just go to IVergilI's sory, Pokemon Gestalt Sun, and view the OC list in the first chapter. I am acutally honored to see that my OC was accepted alongside one of my favorite Fanfiction author's, Amy47101, OC. Since I love my OC so much, I'm actaully thinking of writing a prequel backstory to her on here, but I'm not too sure yet. I want to read IVergilI's story first to see how it goes.**

 **I think I talked enough for today. I still have some work of my own to finish for school. But other then that, don't forget to leave a review! I love it when you guys do!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	38. Relations Unraveling

**Guess what? I'm early this update!**

 **I actually made a new cover for this story. From sketching to coloring, it took probably a total of eight hours without any breaks. It's still not the best, but I'm proud of it. I'm trying to make new covers for each of my stories that's ongoing, but I have limited free time and the only reaosn why I was able to finish this cover in about a day is because I'm on break right now. I'll try my best to finish the other covers, but they take a lot of time that I just don't have. However, I hope all of you take the time to take a look at it and enjoy it. It's a major change from what I had before and I feel like it reflects the story better.**

 **Anyways, I want to save the long part of these A/N for the end. So here are the review responses.**

 **.18: I know that a lot of people see Pokemon as just a kid thing, but it is a world itself and the things that happen in our world can happen there. I didn't want Ash to seem too much like Red in terms of pokemon so I try to differ between their parties to make them differnt.**

 **keaton-furman-prower: I have already replied to the first part of your review in a PM, but as for the second part, the Pokemon League is trying to get closer relations between trainers and rangers, but if the grandson of the Chairperson goes missing, then there bounds to be questions rising, right? But I totally agree with you with the last one. I would do the same thing. I'm just kidding. Maybe.**

 **I know that last chapter was a bit unexpected and not the best thing that can happen in this sory, but all of you just keep in mind that it's a critical point for Scareltt's character developement and I swear, nothing like that will appear in the story again. You have my word.**

 **Without further ado, let's begin with the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or naything else I refer to at all. I only own my OCs that appear in this story. I actually lost count at this point.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Eight

 **X's POV**

"Oh man!" Gold yawned as he walked down the stairs. "Dude, why are you up already?" he asked me when he spotted me sitting on the couch.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep. And it's already noon." I pointed out.

"It is?" Gold looked at the clock. "Then where's everyone else?"

"Went out." I said as I flipped through several TV channels. Nothing good is on.

"And why are you here?" he asked as he headed towards the kitchen.

"I have things to do later so I'm waiting until then." I answered. I actually can't wait until the date I have with Scarlett. It's been a while since we spent some time alone together.

"Hey, I think your pokégear is ringing." Gold told me. I snapped out of my thoughts and grabbed my pokégear from beside me. I flipped it open.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hi X. It's me, Scarlett. Listen, I'm sorry, but I have to cancel our date." Scarlett's said quietly on the other line.

"What? Why?" I asked. This is odd.

"I-I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling up well for it. Maybe we can postpone it for another time? In a few weeks maybe." she said.

"Oh. It's okay. That's fine." I said, disappointed. She seemed fine last night. I wonder what happened.

"Thanks you for understanding. I have to go, but maybe I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah. Later." I said. With that, she hung up and I did too.

"Who was that?" Gold asked. He stuffed his face with a bagel with berry jam on top.

"Looks like I have no plans later." I said as I flipped through the channels even faster.

"Seems like you're mad. Wait, let me guess, you asked out Scar last night and she just cancelled it." Gold smirked.

"It's none of your business." I said.

"Listen man, it's okay to be rejected by a girl. You have an entire fanclub to choose from." Gold said.

"But the thing is, they're crazy. Scarlett is actually sane. She would never do this without a good reason." I told him.

"I wouldn't think too much about this. She'll tell you when she wants to. She's always like that." Gold said.

Since I'm free, I might as well help Yellow up. I did make that promise. Ever since Blue and I found those clues, it should be easy to find who her father is.

"I'm going out." I announced as I turned off the TV and stood up.

"I thought you had nothing to do?" Gold looked at me.

"I actually do. I'm helping Yellow with something." I said as I put my shoes on and wrapped a scarf around my neck. I opened up the door and was greeted by a cold wind gust. I walked out and closed the door after me.

I walked down the streets and headed towards the campus. The biggest clue I can go on right now is the Blackthorn blood and Viridian Forest birthplace. I know not many people are born in the forest so that would be my best bet. I'm not sure who to ask. There's no real true expert on it. I guess I can ask Blue. She would know enough people for that kind of thing. Besides, she's adamant on helping me.

I looked around. People are starting to come out and brave the windy day since it's getting warmer.

I'm surprised that some of the girls still opted for the short shorts and skirts. I guess the girls were right, the rest of the girls here are crazy.

"Just the guy I was looking for!" I turned around and saw Blue standing there. "Come on!" she started to drag me along.

"Um, where are we going?" I asked her. At this point, I'm not sure if it's good thing or a bad thing she found me while I was looking for her.

"I'm guessing you have the same thought as me. We're going to look for Yellow's dad!" she answered.

"Slow down a bit. "I told her. With that. She stopped and turned around. "I think that instead of just wandering around, lost, I say we use the clues we have. Mainly the bloodline. Do you know anyone else who would be born the Viridian Forest?"

"Hmm, considering how I'm only 17, no. But I think I do know who would." Blue answered.

"Who?" I asked.

"I bet she would be in her apartment." she said as she led me to the staff housing.

"Um, who are we meeting exactly?" I asked.

"Daisy Oak of course! She's so smart so I bet she would know which way we should go in first." she explained.

"Or, I don't know. Go ask a Dragon expert?" I suggested. "I heard the Dragon clans would all know each other."

"Yes, but there are descendants indirectly from the Dragon clans who would have their blood. We don't know if Yellow's dad is directly from the clans. Especially if he was born in Viridian Forest." Blue countered. "I'm sure Daisy would know. Not many people are born in the forest after all."

I sighed. She really is stuck on this. As we were talking, we ended up in front of the staff building. Blue walked in with me following her and walked up a few set of stairs before stopping in front of a door.

"Uh, how do you know her apartment number?" I asked her. I've never seen her around the staff building before.

"Gary shouldn't really let his pokégear out of his sight. Especially with his family notes in there." she hinted. I sighed. Of course she would steal his pokégear. Blue knocked on the door three times.

"Coming!" a voice came from inside. The door opened to reveal Daisy standing there. "Oh! Blue! This is a surprise? And who is your friend?"

"This is X, one my foster brothers." Blue answered. "Can we come in?"

"Oh! It's nice to meet you!" Daisy looked at me. Come in! You're just in time for some tea." we walked in and noticed that her apartment was very minimal. There were a few plants scattered around, a table, a coach, bookshelf, and a kitchen separated from the rest of the room by a counter. There was a door leading to what I guess was her room.

"What kind of tea do you prefer? Earl Grey or Green? If you want something else, I have other kinds." Daisy said as she walked into the kitchen. Blue and I sat on some cushions at the table.

"Anything is fine." Blue said. After a few minutes, Daisy returned with a tea tray filled with a teapot and three cups.

"So, is there a reason for this lovely visit?" Daisy asked as she sat down and poured each of us a cup of tea.

"There is something we want to ask you." Blue said. "And I know that you would be the perfect person to know."

"What is it?" Daisy asked. "I know almost everything about Kanto. Anything outside of Kanto, not so much."

"How much do you know about the Viridian Forest?" I asked.

"The Viridian Forest?" she looked at me. "Hmm, I know much about the pokémon there, but for some reason, I have a feeling you're not here to talk about that."

"We actually have a different sort of question." I said. "Have you ever heard about people being born there?"

"Of course." she nodded. "But it's very rare. And those who are will have powers granted by the forest. Why are you asking?"

"We have a friend who is trying to find her dad and from what we can tell from a DNA test, he's from the Viridian Forest." Blue explained.

"I see." Daisy said. "Well, in the past fifty years, there were only two people born there. I know Lance was born there and there was also a girl my brother's friends would play with all the time until... You know what, never mind. That's not the time right now." she shook her head. I glanced over at Blue to see her knuckles turning white as she wrapped her fingers tighter around her cup of tea.

"Well, is that all?" Daisy asked.

"Yes." Blue nodded. "Thank you for the tea." she stood up. I followed her lead and exited Daisy's apartment. We walked out of the building in silence. When we were in the courtyard, I spoke.

"Blue? Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I'm fine." she said. "It's just a little hard for me when she mentioned Yellow, Scarlett, and me. I know Yellow haven't been as close as Ash, Gary, Scarlett, and me, but I would always play with her with Scarlett. The boys wouldn't know. Only the girls. And then the incident came. For both of us."

"Sorry if that brought up some bad memories." I said.

"It's fine. It was my idea to go visit Daisy." Blue grinned at me. "Now, let's go meet Lance."

* * *

 **Yellow's POV**

I walked around the town. I don't know for what exactly. I just needed to get some fresh air. The cold was coming in and every few minutes, a gusty wind blew pass. I had to cover my mouth and nose with my scarf to avoid the cold.

I would go to the forest, but it would probably be colder there. The shade from the trees will make it colder than it seems and I'm not looking forward to be covered in leaves when I step out of the forest.

I sighed. I wonder what I should do. It's November so there's not much going on. I supposed I could make on that promise I have with X. I do have a good amount of information to out on, but I still don't know where to start. Just asking random people about a long-lost cousin to one of the dexholders would have me chased by those fangirls even more. It would make me sound like a stalker. Oh Arceus, I would be Blue.

I looked up and saw a flash of blonde hair and red, but it was gone around a corner. I shook my head. I really should stop worrying. Even though the rest of the girls and I haven't seen Scarlett since last night, I trust that she has her reasons. She was gone before any of us woke up and none of us heard a word from her. I hope she would tell us soon though.

I continue walking down the street. There were a few more people out here than earlier. Perhaps the sun warmed things enough for people to come out and brave the weather. The shops on the streets were filled with people. They were probably in for a hot drink. I noticed that this year, all of the shops and businesses are run by the students. Last year, it was adults. I still remember that incident with Scarlett's Sol. I'm glad they were able to get it cleared up.

"Hey Yellow." I snapped out of my thoughts. I turned around and saw Ash grinning at me.

"Hi Ash." I felt blood rushing up to my cheeks. Why do I always feel this way around him? My heart begins to beat faster and my stomach twisted in knots.

"So what are you doing out here? It is a bit too cold for anyone to be out." he said.

"Then why are you out here?" I replied.

"Ha! Good point!" he smiled. He walked past me and I walked side-by-side with him. "I guess everyone's affected by the wind. I guess that's why your cheeks are so red!"

Great. Now my entire face is red. "Y-yeah. That's why." I said quietly. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. "Say, you travelled a lot, right?"

"Of course. I've been to every region with a Pokémon League." Ash nodded.

"And you must've met a lot of people." I continued.

"That's right." he nodded. "I don't know everything about most of them, but I do know a lot about my travelling partners."

"What are they like?" I asked.

"Hmm, Brock and Misty are both Gym Leaders, as you know, and they both have siblings; something I don't have." Uh, you know what? You'll already know what I'll probably say. "Tracey loves drawing pokémon and is an assistant to Professor Oak. May and Max are the children of Norman; May, you know, but Max wants to be a trainer and win a League. Dawn you also know. Then there's Iris and Cilan. They're different than my past travelling companions, but they're great nonetheless. I guess Clemont and Bonnie you may know well enough, but I still don't know that much about them."

"I see." I nodded. Then I noticed that he left someone out. "What about Serena?"

"I know the most about her." he smiled. "But mainly because we used to know each other when we went to Pokémon Summer Camp. I sort of forgot about her, then when we met each other in Kalos, we were able to catch up. Somehow, all of the information got stuck in my head. And I remember that when she came to Summer Camp, she was very traumatized and scared."

"From what?" I asked.

"I don't know. Something about pokémon in her hometown. She didn't talk about it much." Ash said.

I slowly let all of the information process in my head. She sounds like X's cousin, but I can't be sure. I know Serena may have said something about herself on the first day of school, but I have to refresh my memory on that.

"Yellow-san!" I looked up and saw Serena waving at me. She was there with Dawn, May, and Lyra.

"San?" I said confused. No one has ever called me that before. I didn't know Serena sees me with that much respect.

"Hey Ash. Do you mind if we borrow her for a second? We haven't that much time to know her since the school year started and we want to now!" Dawn asked.

"'Uh, sure." Ash nodded.

"Great! "Lyra exclaimed as she grabbed my wrist. "Come on! Let's go somewhere warmer to talk!" they led me over to a coffee shop that wasn't all that packed with people.

"This place isn't really popular, but they have the best coffee." Serena explained as we sat down at a booth. It was a corner booth so we all fit in. "Well, your café has the best _best_ , but this place has to take second place."

"Where are the other girls? Don't you also want to talk to them?" I asked.

"We would, but we couldn't find them. Blue went off somewhere, Scarlett hasn't been seen since last night, Crystal is busy with something, White is also busy, Whi-Two went out with this greenet, and the ranger kids said that they had something to do." May explained.

By that time, a waiter came to take our orders. I don't drink coffee that much so I just ordered a green tea while the other girls ordered their coffee. We also got some pastries and cookies to eat.

"I wish everyone was here though. It would be a great bonding experience." Dawn said.

"Maybe we should have a girls' night out!" Serena suggested.

"Great idea! But when?" Lyra asked.

"We'll figure it out later. I think Blue would also help out." May said.

The waiter came back with our orders. I wrapped my hand around the hot cup of tea and let them warm up. The waiter also set down a tea pot in case if I need to refill. "So, what you do you want to know about me?" I asked.

"What did you do before you came to the academy?" Serena asked.

"Nothing really. I would be what you can call a nomad, but not really in my sense. I like to help pokémon and that's all I really did." I answered.

"That's cool." Dawn nodded. "So would you be a Pokémon Nurse if you wanted?"

"A nurse?" I asked. "I never thought about that."

"Or a Doctor? I know Brock is training to be a Pokémon Doctor." Dawn replied.

"It would sound interesting." I noted. It really would. Maybe I should consider it.

"Whatever you choose to do, just make sure you love it!" Serena exclaimed.

"What about you?" I asked. "When did you decide to become a Performer?"

"That's actually a funny story." she laughed. "You see, when I met up with Ash to travel with him, I didn't know what I would become. It wasn't until I saw a Showcase did I want to become a Performer and not a Rhyhorn Racer like my mom. But even before, my mom enrolled me in these gifted classes since I was so smart for my age, like you. I wasn't interested in any of them except for that Sky Trainers class. That was actually fun."

"You know, you never talked about your childhood much, Serena." May noted.

"Really?" Serena looked at her. They shook their heads. "Oh, I never noticed. Well, I know basically everything about you girls so I guess it would make sense I'll tell you more about me!"

"Oh! Start with your family! Your mom is really cool, right?" Lyra asked.

"I guess." she shrugged. "She's fine with whatever I do. My dad is always off travelling so I don't see much of him as I like to. I know he has a sister who's a former Ace Trainer. Her husband is also a former Ace Trainer. I don't remember my cousin that much though. I know we used to play with each other all the time. Until there was a day I don't remember much. That was when I got sent to Kanto for the summer. But all I know is that my cousin was a lot of fun! We played with each all the time. We had annoying names for each other. I called him X since his middle name was Xander and he called me Y in returned since my middle is Yvonne."

I tuned out after she said that. Seems like it true. Serena is X's cousin. Now how to tell them. Or should I start with X first? I don't know. Either way, Serena would be so confused. Just walking up and saying 'Hi! I know that X is your long lost cousin he told me to find you after he got traumatized by giant pokémon fighting in your hometown!' How would you react to that?

I'll let X deal with it. But it just wouldn't feel right. I have to get them to both know at the same time. If not, then I feel like betraying the whole problem with Ash and Scarlett. I'll figure a way out later. Right now, I'm just enjoying some time with my friends and relaxing for a while.

* * *

 **White's POV**

"Their first relationships and they leave me all alone." I grumbled as I walked down the streets in town. "But I should've expected this. Curtis and Yancy both seem nice. I can trust them. And I'm talking to myself like a weirdo. Great."

More people were coming out. That's good. The sun is warming up the day nicely, but the wind is bringing it down at the same time. I looked inside some of the storefronts and saw them busy. I spotted Yellow, Lyra, Serena, May, and Dawn inside a coffee shop eating. I smiled. I guess it's good that we're branching out and hanging out with other people, but I'm not sure if we can trust all of them yet.

I've known Black the longest out of anyone (except for my siblings) in our little group. I remember the day he crashed on the set for an ad I was filming for and wrecked everything. I made him be my assistant until he paid it off. And now he has another thing to pay off. I swear, that boy can break anything. I don't suppose that Arceus is doing this on purpose? How should I know? I only met the Three Dragons of Unova, not the creator himself! Speaking of which, I should let Reshiram roam free soon. She needs the exercise.

I walked past the café the boys worked at last year. I spotted Black inside there. I didn't know he worked on the weekends, but guess he had to if he wanted to pay the money back to me. I saw that there was a decent amount of people in there and not just fangirls in there this time. I thought about our café. It attracted a good amount of people of all types. I guess the fangirls are too afraid to even step in there.

A small growl snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned red as I pressed against my stomach a bit. I haven't eaten anything since this morning. I decided to go inside the café for a bite to eat. When I did, a chime rang through the café. Black looked up from the table he just served and waved at me.

"Hi there Prez!" he exclaimed.

"I told you not to call me that." I sighed. I looked over at the counter and saw Martin there. I walked over and sat at the counter.

"And what brings you in here today?" he asked me as I sat down.

"Just a bite to eat. What's your special?" I asked.

"The only special we have is the Soup of the Day." he replied.

"Then I'll have that." I said. He nodded and walked in the kitchen. I just sat there and looked around. It felt normal in here with nothing crazy going on. The layout reminds me of a café in Kalos, even the color scheme. Just a monotone scheme of black, white, and gray. I wonder how Martin was still able to attract customers with this color palette.

"Hey White." Black stood next to me. "Where's Whi and Lack? Aren't they usually with you?" he asked.

"They're out with Curtis and Yancy." I replied.

"Why?"

"You don't know?" I looked at him. "They're going out. Remember the night at the homecoming festival when they found those Xtransceivers?"

"I remember." he nodded. "Wait, they belonged to Curtis and Yancy?"

"Yep."

"But wait, didn't they also meet them under different circumstances?" Black asked.

"They did, and they know the truth." I hinted. "But they can keep a secret. If not, I'm going to fulfill my duties as concerned family."

"Just don't kill them." Black laughed before going back to deal with some customers. I didn't notice it before, but my heart stopped pounding in my ears. When did that start? I know that it wasn't when I ordered. Maybe it was when Black stood next to me. But why?

I have to admit, I had this feeling before. It happens whenever I'm with him. My face would get hot, my palms get sweaty, and my heart would sound like it's hitting against my ribcage. Argh! What is happening to me?! I snapped back to reality when a bowl of soup was slid in front of me.

"What kind of soup is this?" I asked Martin.

"It's something new I'm trying out. It's called bouillabaisse." he replied. "I'm trying out some Kalosian dishes and you're the first one to try it."

"Then why have it as the Soup of the Day?" I raised a brow.

"No one else was willing to try it." he shrugged.

"Why not Black?" I asked.

"Don't you know him? He has absolutely no taste buds when he eats something."

"True." I said as I dipped my spoon in the bowl. There seemed to be some fish and vegetables in there which was nice. I took bite of it.

"So? How is it?" Martin asked.

"It's good." I nodded. "Though you might want to use fresh and not frozen."

"Do I look like I'm made out of money?" he said. I raised a brow. "Okay I take that back."

"How much are you selling this for?" I asked.

"I'm setting it at 500 PKD as the price for one bowl." he said.

"Then I think you're able to go for fresh fish." I said. "It would make it taste better and may allow you to raise the price a little to 650 PKD."

"I see." Martin nodded. "Well, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the advice." he went off to help more customers.

I went back to eating the rest of the soup. I have to admit. It wasn't half bad. I meant what I said to Martin but except for that, it was delicious. I suppose our café could use more variety in terms of exotic cuisine. I finished up my food and set down the money I owe. When I did, I noticed Black sitting down next to me.

"Don't you have work?" I asked.

"My shift ended." he said. "Want to join me for a walk?"

"Sure." I said as I stood up. Black stood up as well as we exited the café. The sun was starting to set lower in the sky but we still had some time until it was completely gone. Black and I just walked in a random direction.

"So, do you have anything coming up?" Black asked me.

"I have the winter musical to deal with. I have most of the casting done but I don't have a female lead." I replied. "And I need to find one soon."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Black asked.

"Maybe. The musical is _Beauty and the Beast_. The Beast is that ranger kid Keith Dazzle. I casted some rangers in some roles to include them in the school, but not only that, they also have some really good talents.." I said.

"Have you tried auditions?" he asked.

"Of course I did, but I haven't seen anyone good enough for the role of the Beauty. No one is able to fit her personality." I sighed.

"Maybe go off book. Search the campus without auditions to draw anyone in. Remember, people can have hidden talents."

"You're right!" I exclaimed. "That's a brilliant idea! You're a genius!"

"Really?! No one ever said that to me before!" Black laughed. I could see his face turn red a little bit. For some reason, seeing him like that made me blush. Do I like him? Really, do I? We've known each other since we were ten when he crashed that set, but nothing bubbled up in me until we joined the group. Well, there's only one way to find out.

"S-Say, Black. Do you want to go out sometimes with me?" I asked him quietly.

"You mean, like a date?" he looked at me.

"Y-yeah. Like a date." I blushed profusely.

"Sure! I'll like that!" Black grinned.

"Really?!" I snapped my head up.

"Of course." he smiled at me. I felt my heart rate go up. "I have to admit, you may seem pushy, bossy, and controlling sometimes," and it went back down. "But I really like you. A lot." and it goes back up. "I was hoping to be the one to ask you out, but it seems like you beat me to the punch."

Did I just hear that right? Black also likes me? As in _likes_ likes me? I must be dreaming. Seriously. I always thought that he has little to no interest in me. After all, I was and ma his boss. Hold on a minute. Did he also say that he was going to ask _me_ out? Now I know I'm dreaming.

"Hold up. Are you being serious about this?" I asked him.

"Why wouldn't I?" he looked at me.

"It's just that, you never seemed interested in me before. I always bossed you around and you just went with it. I never thought you would like me after all of that."

"I like you because of that." he said. I blinked. Really? "I always had to help out my mom around the house and never got to explore what was really out there. But with you, you gave me new insight on how the world is and I appreciate that."

I blushed again. "Black... I never knew that you felt that way about me. To be honest, I never thought that you ever felt that way about-!" I got cut off by lips clashing with mines. My eyes widened as Black suddenly kissed me. I was still in shock as he pulled away.

"S-sorry. " Black looked away. "I didn't know why I even-" I cut him off by grabbing both of his cheeks in my hands and kissed him again. I never felt this alive in my life.

* * *

 **Emerald's POV**

I was walking in town when I looked ahead to see White and Black kissing. I nearly gagged. Does anyone know the meaning of PDA these days?! No one wants to see that in the middle of street!

"Geez, get a room." I muttered as I walked past them. I doubted they heard me. After all, they were busy sucking off each others' faces.

I walked down the streets and into an internet café. I really didn't want to do his thing in public, but the wifi is down at the house and the school lab would keep records of everything on their computers even if it was deleted. At an internet café, I can bring my own laptop and the wifi would be safe since no one would bother checking it.

I sat down at a couch and opened up the laptop I held in my hands. The screen was black for a second before flashing white and opening up to the log in screen. I typed in my password and was met with the home screen. I clicked on the tab that I left open and came face to face with a large red 'R' in the middle of a black screen. I made sure no one was looking as I continued on my search.

I would be something that benefitted me right now, but Crys convinced me to help out on the search for Silver's mother. We couldn't trust that Giovanni with his last clue so I took matters in my own hands and conducted my own lead. The first of which was to check their website.

Yes, they have their own fucking website. I didn't say they were the smartest. Or subtle.

Anyways, I checked their website to see a list of members, which they did have, with their pictures so I can narrow down the results. Giovanni would have someone in his own organization to have his son with since I'm not sure if he can trust anyone outside of it, but there are also other people in other organizations, but one step at a time.

I ruled out the obvious wrong choices and went on. I doubt the boss of an entire organization would have any children with a lowly grunt so they're out too. Anyone who joined less than 16 years ago would be out.

I came out with three candidates from different organizations that can be related to Silver. Not just his mother, but related. A Rocket Executive called Ariana, a former Galactic Commander named Mars, and a former Plasma called Alice. They all seemed to be close to Giovanni in some ways. But still not really enough for a good lead.

I sighed. Maybe this will be harder than I thought. And I thought it would be harder already. I could take a direct approach, but that might seem a bit offsetting. Being secretive about it and asking a lot of questions would just seem creepy.

I just typed away on the laptop some more until I found a small detail concerning one of the candidates of family.

"She's on campus?" I asked as I looked at Mars' page. It seems like she's employed as an assistant at the campus' day care. Interesting. But that's not my business. I sent the information to Silver. It's his family and he chooses if he wants them. I closed my laptop and exited. My job was done.

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I walked slowly through the streets. The wind has picked up quite a bit over the course of the day, but that didn't affect the students walking around town as sunset drew nearer. I walked to a quieter part of the town and leaned against a brick wall.

A door opened next to me and a boy walked out. He had sharp facial features with his brunet hair in a buzzcut. His night black eyes took in every detail of everything while his simple black jeans, shirt, brown jacket, and brown boots made him blend into the crowd.

"You called for me?" he looked at me with a side glance.

"I'm surprised you even chose to come outside." I responded as I looked over at him.

"Only when I have a call for a case." he replied. "So what is it?"

"I need your help with finding someone." I told him.

"Hold on, I thought Steven said you already found your dad. Isn't he the reason why you're even here at the academy?"

"Not him." I told him. "This is for a friend. I'm trying to locate Grey Touya." I handed him a photo.

"Former Unova Champ?" he asked me as he took the photo.

"Not officially. Remember, he refused the title from Alder." I shook my head.

"Of course. How could I forget." the boy rubbed his chin. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to focus for my exam in the spring." he handed the photo back to me.

"Come on, Hanson." I pleaded. "Can't you just do me this one favor?"

"Sorry, but if I want to bring glory back to my family's name than I have to be the best agent there is! Or at least even better than my dad." Hanson exclaimed.

"Fine." I sighed. "Maybe I could ask your brother in Unova. He would know more about the region and any leads. Or even your sister in Sinnoh. She is smarter." I knew how to get under his skin.

"There is no way you are asking my siblings!" Hanson exclaimed. He snatched the photo from my hand. "I'll take your case and find him too!" with pride in his puffed out chest, he walked back into the building. I let out a sigh and small smile. At least I have help. Suddenly, my pokégear rang.

"Hello?" I picked it up.

"Ashley?" it was Dad.

"Yeah? What's up?" I asked

"There's some bad news I have to tell you."

* * *

 **Not much happened this chapter. A good change of pace from what happened last time. But a lot of puzzle pieces are falling in place here. I'm sure that all of you saw that coming. I swear, every surprise I have are so predictable. Maybe not what ahppened last chapter though. Sorry about that.**

 **Anywyas, that's it concerning the chapter, but here's a little note for the end of a good year.**

 **I know that 2017 has been a wild and crazy year for many that has been filled with good things, but of course bad things too There has been many up and downs for everyone in the world and I hope that everyone has been able to reflect back and remember at least one good thing that really made the year fo** r **you. I hoped everyone had a happy holidays and here's to 2018. May the new year bring good things to come.**

 **I'll see you guys next year.**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	39. Feelings Revealed

**Hi everyone! I'm back!**

 **So yeah, things have been a bit confusing for me. But hey. Guess what? I have a DeviantArt account now! My name over there is Anika Chichan which is apparently now the new alias I'm going under online. I already posted two pieces on there already; the cover image for Runaway Life and a RWBY OC I had in mind for a while. There are more OCs to join her and maybe a story? I'm not too sure yet. I already have too much to write.**

 **Anyways, let's keep this short so all of you can read this highly anticapted chapter.**

 **.18: (Ch 6) Ash's team will fluctuate very often and his team of pokemon will always change. So they might be added, they might not. (Ch 38) Ash? Dead? I have never thought about that, but unfortunately, he won't be in this story. Trust me.**

 **So that's it. Not much this time. Let's get to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or the song mentioned. Or anything else I refer to. I only own my OCs. That's it.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Nine

 **Gary's POV**

I don't even know why I'm walking in the town this early. Usually, I would be enjoying my alone time, but for some reason, I felt complied to come out and take a walk. I shouldn't even be out here doing nothing. There's an oral presentation (for some reason) in homeroom and Satoshi is making us give one. We only spend fifteen minutes in there. We don't even time for anything like that.

The town was pretty much deserted as I walked through, but as I passed by an alley, I heard some grunting and a thud coming from it. I stopped and casted a glance in the alley. To my surprise, I saw that Ranger snob Vincent lifted by his collar against a brick wall by Stone's kid, Mason. Yes, the usual 'go-with-the-flow' Mason. But here, he had fury in his eyes. I decided to wait and see where this goes.

"You bastard! Why the hell would you go and do that to her?!" Mason yelled in fury.

Vincent merely chuckled. "I just thought that she would make a good fuck." That just earned him another slam against the wall.

"You son of a bitch!" Mason threw him to the ground. "Don't you dare about her like that!"

"Hehe." Vincent wiped off some blood from his cheek. "From the way you're acting about this, you must actually like her."

"It's none of your damn business." Mason's fists tightened even more.

"Honestly, I don't see the reason why. There's only one thing she's good for. Sure she's headstrong, but I can change that. I'm sure you already saw that. But you still like her. Even care for her. If she chose me, and I don't see why she didn't, I would've just had my fun with her as much as I want. But sooner or later, I would get bored and the whore would be all yours like right now.

"Shut up." I noticed that Mason was shaking.

"You can actually see the qualities in people, but for me, I see the only thing that tramp is good for. With a body like that, I wonder why you haven't either."

Next thing I knew, Mason punched Vincent in the jaw. "Bastard! There's a reason why she didn't choose you! You don't even deserve her! You just can't take a fucking 'no' as an answer, can you?! She is a human being just like me but definitely not you. She is not just an object you think you already own! Scarlett is so much more than that. And you nearly raping her just showed how little you see of other people."

Now that caught my attention. They were talking about Ashley? Backtrack that, and if I heard right, Vincent tried to rape her? That got _my_ blood boiling. I quietly walked towards them. Neither of them noticed that I was there yet.

"She's nothing more than a dirty, naïve whore who doesn't know that she's already like every other girl in this shitty school. She's just another sl-!" he was cut off by a punch straight to the nose.

"I suggest that you don't finish that thought." I glared at him as I brought my fist back to my side.

"G-Gary!" Mason stuttered out.

"And don't ever talk about Scarlett like that again. She is practically a sister to me. And from what I heard, you tried to rape her." I shot a death glare at Vincent who was clutching his nose.

"Well would you look at this. That bitch has two bodyguards to defend her honor." he had the gull to smirk.

"If I ever see you hurt her, with her, or even look at her. I'll kill you. And don't worry. No one would know it was me. It would such a shame that grandson of the Chairperson died from a very violent savage pokémon attack. A simple accident." I threatened.

"You wouldn't even do anything." Vincent shot back.

"Try me." I glared at him one final time before turned back to the street. "Let him rot there. Sooner or later, he would have to come crying to someone." I told Mason as I walked away.

I was out of Vincent's remaining earshot when Mason called out to me. "Wait! I want to talk to you."

"What about?" I asked as I turned around.

"You said Ashley was like a sister to you." he said.

"Known her for almost all my life. Seems fitting." I said.

"Then you must know about what happened to her and her condition."

Condition? That's the first time I heard about that. "No one knows much about her accident, but what condition?"

"If you don't know, then it's not my place to say." Mason said.

I decided to a more pressing subject. "I heard that she chose to do an arranged marriage."

"You know about that?" Mason looked at me.

"Gramps tried to set me up with a meeting, but when I saw her, I backed out. If she doesn't know than I won't force her."

"What?" Mason asked.

"It's nothing. So I'm guessing she chose you?"

"Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Not really, but I've seen how close you two have been and that red diamond? Not very hard to figure out, Mason." I explained. "But I have to ask; do you really like her?""

"Of course. She's a good person." he answered.

"That's not what I meant." I narrowed my eyes.

He sighed. "Of course I like her. Who wouldn't? She's just so outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind. I know we would have things stay platonic but I can't help it. I think I'm falling for her."

* * *

 **Scarlett's POV**

I let the rest of the tears run down my face. I couldn't believe that I have so little time. I thought there would be more time to enjoy my life, but I knew that it would never last long. When Dad told me last night, I just broke down in tears. I'm glad that no one saw me. I've been avoiding my friends, you can say, but I want to be alone right now. I really do.

That's why I'm sitting at the edge of my favorite place in the forest. I found it by accident. It's just a lake, but I've never seen one like it.

I reached one of my arms out in front of me and touched the surface with one of my fingers. Ripples disturbed the water as an image appeared. That's the beauty. Whenever I touch the water, it would show me a different me.

Touch.

Me as a Ranger.

Touch.

Me as a princess.

Touch

Me as a Rocket.

Touch.

Ranger me covered in scars and standing next to Keith.

Touch.

Princess me in middle of a fallen kingdom.

Touch.

Rocket me with blood on my face.

Touch.

Next I see a thief.

Touch.

A waitress.

Touch.

A researcher.

Touch.

Living with Legendaries.

I nearly laughed. If only I could right now. These visions may be strange to some, but I see them as what I could've been or will be.

I touched the water surface again.

I see Gary behind me. But I knew that it was only a vision.

Touch.

It's Mason.

Touch

It's Ash now.

Touch.

Here's X.

Touch.

I see Dan.

"Hey. What are you doing?" I nearly fell forward. That Dan was real.

"Dear Arceus." I sighed as I got back my balance. I placed a hand over my thumping heart.

"Whoa. Sorry if I startled you." Dan said as he sat down next to me.

"It's fine. I was just lost in thought." I said.

"What were you doing?" he asked me.

"I was just looking at the ripples in the water. It really relaxes me." I answered.

"That sounds cool." Dan said as he touched the water surface this time, it was black. The vision was pure black. But I could see me in the middle of it. Glowing red eyes glistened behind me. Then claws overtook the vision before going away. I blinked. What was that? It wasn't any vision I had there before.

"I was just heading back to the school. Sorry that we couldn't hang out any longer." I said as I stood up, still a bit shaken up. I walked back into the forest.

"Pika, do you know what that was?" I asked quietly.

"Pi? Pikachu pi." she shook her head.

"I suspected so. All the others have been interesting, but not like this." I said. "I'm afraid of that. I really am."

I tried to push all of that out of my mind as I just wandered around the forest. There were more spots that I consider peaceful enough to clear my mind and a few minutes later I was at one of them. It was another lake but this one was much larger than the other one. Plus it doesn't have any magical powers.

I sat down on one of the rocks near the shoreline and stared out at the lake. Other students knew about this definitely, but not many came here. They would rather be with others of their kind. As for me, I'm unique. There's only one person in the entire world is a being like me and of course that's me. I can't tell anyone about what I really am. They would see me as a freak. More than I am already.

I took a risk telling Mason and his family, but they did deserve to know. If they were going to be part of my family, they really should know, even if it's not going to last long.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw bubbles disturbing the surface of the lake. I looked up and saw a trail of bubbles coming from a few feet in front of me. The surface exploded in a water spout.

"Aaaahhhh!" I let out a small scream as water fell on me when a person of all things, came up to the surface.

"Wow! There's so many pokémon down there!" that person was a girl. A girl who clearly does not think things through.

"Ugh. Do things ever go my way?" I groaned as I felt my damp clothes cling to my body.

"Oh! Hi there! Sorry about that! I didn't think anyone else would be here!" the girl apologized. I looked up at her and got a real first look. First thing I can tell you is that she has some crazy hair color, and trust me, in this world you can have basically any hair color, but hers was a neon pink with deep black tips. Her eyes were a shining silver. They're different from Silver's eyes. They're more cunning.

"It's fine. I was going to take a shower anyways." I told her.

"My name's Sydney! Sydney Hastings! Nice to meetcha!" she swam to shore and stuck her hand out to shake it.

"Hastings? As in Professor Hastings?" I asked her as I shook her hand.

"That's my grandpa!" she nodded. "And you are?"

"Scarlett." I answered her.

"Ohh! Aren't you Red's kid?" she asked me.

"You know about that?" I raised a brow.

"Duh! Once I learned that an actual girl signed up for a marriage, I just had to know who she was. I'm glad that I'm not the only girl in our little clique!" Sydney exclaimed.

"So is there someone else?" I asked.

"Not really. Most of them are grown up now. But if my memory serves me right, there's Wallace's daughter, Narissa, then Juniper's daughter, Athena, and Sycamore's daughter, Chloë." Sydney counted them off her fingers. "But I know that none of them would sign up for an arranged marriage. Why did you?"

"Umm, well. My dad and I have gotten in some financial troubles and he thought that it was a good idea for me to be married and I want to help my family as much I can so I said yes." I explained. "Though there were some drawbacks with it."

"You mean Vincent, huh?" she asked. I flinched when she said his name. "Is something wrong? Wait a minute, he tried assaulting you, didn't he?!"

"Well, yeah..." I said quietly.

"When I get my hands on that boy!" Sydney exclaimed. "Don't you worry about a thing! I'll handle him! As a part of the close knit all girls Pokemon VIP group, I have your back!"

"Pokémon VIP group?" I asked.

"Yeah! It's just the kids of the top people in the pokémon world that's all." she explained. "Speaking of which, I heard they're transferring all of the kids over to the academy. That's why I'm here!"

"You just transferred?"

"Yeah! A little late, but the other girls might be a bit late too, but you have to hang out with us when they do! It'll be so much fun! I like enjoying my life. That's why I didn't sign up for that program. And Grandpa is so cool with it too! He would never force me! Hey, I just remembered, who are you engaged to?"

"Mason Stone."

"Ah, good choice. You know, Athena actually had a crush in him forever, but never acted on it. So good for you! But I know that Athena wouldn't mind." Sydney winked. "Would you look at the time! I had to meet Grandpa an hour ago! Aw, he won't be mad at me. See ya later!" with that, Sydney stood up and dashed off in the forest.

"Pikachu?" Pika asked.

"I don't know either." I responded. I shook my head and checked the time on my pokégear. I had a few more hours. I might as well go do something productive.

* * *

 **Blue's POV**

"Okay, so the next Family Day is during the 22th of the month so that would be enough time to prepare, right?" I asked White.

"That's only like two weeks! Do you think I can get an entire musical ready in that time especially when I haven't casted the Beauty yet?!" she ranted.

"Okay, I know that it's strange coming from me, but I suggest you've had enough coffee for the month." I said slowly as I moved the cup of steaming coffee from her hand and onto the other side of me.

"Sorry." she groaned. "I'm just so stressed out. I've casted everyone else a few weeks ago, but still haven't found a girl talented enough to be the Beauty!"

"Have you at least figured out a name for her yet? You can't just keep calling her that." I pointed out.

"I'll give her a name when I find someone fit for the part. I get inspired that way." White shrugged.

"For the Beast?"

"I'm not revealing the prince's real name until the end of the show, but I'm thinking Adam."

"Keith doesn't really look like an Adam."

"Then what?"

"Maybe Grayson. He does sort of look like one."

"I'll think about it."

While we were talking, I didn't notice that we were walking to the picnic area in the center courtyard of campus. Even though it was a windy and cool day, there were still students milling around, sitting on the picnic tables sat up around the large tree with Celebi carved out of it.

"Hey! Blue! White!" I looked up to see Rhythmi waving us over. She was sitting with Kate and Summer at one of the tables.

"What are you three up to?" I asked as we sat down with them.

"Just relaxing. Though it may be cold, it's refreshing. I'm tired of sweating." Kate explained as a radio on the table played some song.

"I love the summer! It's always sunny!" Summer responded.

"That's because it's your name." Rhythmi pointed out.

"So what? I still love it!" Summer grinned.

"I love this song!" Kate suddenly exclaimed as a new song begin to play on the radio.

"Kate, it's an instrumental." Rhythmi countered.

"So? I still love it!" she pouted.

"How does the song go?" I asked.

"Kate, you have to show them." Summer added.

"Oh fine." she threw her hands up in defeat.

 ** _I was thinking 'bout you,_**

 ** _Thinking 'bout me, Thinking 'bout us,_**

 ** _What we gonna be? Open my eyes,_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

 ** _Travelled back, down that road_**

 ** _Will you come back? No one knows_**

 ** _I realized, it was only just a dream_**

 ** _I was at the top and now it's like I'm in the basement_**

 ** _Number one spot now you find her a replacement_**

 ** _I swear now that I can't take it, knowing somebody's got my baby_**

 ** _Now you ain't around, baby I can't think_**

 ** _I should've put it down, should've got that ring_**

 ** _'_** ** _Cause I can still feel it in the air_**

 ** _I see your pretty face, run my fingers through your hair_**

 ** _My lover, my life_**

 ** _My baby, my wife_**

 ** _You left me uptight_**

 ** _'_** ** _Cause I know that it just ain't right_**

 ** _I was thinking 'bout you,_**

 ** _Thinking 'bout me, Thinking 'bout us,_**

 ** _What we gonna be? Opened my eyes,_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

 ** _So I travelled back, down that road_**

 ** _Will you come back? No one knows_**

 ** _I realized, it was only just a dream_**

 ** _Now I'm riding I swear I see your face at every turn_**

 ** _I'm trying to get my Usher on, but I can't let it burn_**

 ** _And just hope you know you're the only one I yearn for_**

 ** _More and more I miss him, when will I learn?_**

 ** _Didn't give him all my love,_**

 ** _I guess now I got my payback_**

 ** _Now I'm in the club thinking all about your baby_**

 ** _Hey, you were so easy to love_**

 ** _But wait, I guess that love wasn't enough._**

 ** _I'm going through it every time that I'm alone_**

 ** _And now I'm wishing that you'd pick up the phone_**

 ** _But you made the decision that you wanted to move on_**

 ** _'_** ** _Cause I was wrong_**

 ** _I was thinking 'bout you,_**

 ** _Thinking 'bout me, thinking 'bout us,_**

 ** _What we gonna be? Opened my eyes,_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

 ** _So I travelled back, down that road_**

 ** _Will you come back? No one knows_**

 ** _I realized, it was only just a dream_**

 ** _If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up_**

 ** _If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up_**

 ** _And now they're gone and you're wishing you could give them everything_**

 ** _(And give them everything)_**

 ** _If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up (If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up)_**

 ** _If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up (If you've ever loved somebody put your hands up)_**

 ** _And they're gone and you wish you could give them everything_**

 ** _I was thinking 'bout you,_**

 ** _Thinking 'bout me, thinking 'bout us,_**

 ** _What we gonna be? Opened my eyes, (Opened my eyes)_**

 ** _It was only just a dream (It's just a dream)_**

 ** _So I travelled back (Travelled back, I travelled back), down that road (down that road)_**

 ** _Will you come back, No one knows (no one knows)_**

 ** _I realized (I realized), it was only just a dream (no no nooo)_**

 ** _Ooooohhh_**

 ** _I was thinking 'bout you,_**

 ** _Thinking 'bout me, thinking 'bout us,_**

 ** _What we gonna be? Opened my eyes, (Opened my eyes)_**

 ** _It was only just a dream (It's just a dream)_**

 ** _So I travelled back, down that road_**

 ** _Will you come back, No one knows_**

 ** _I realized (I realized), it was only just a dream (It's only just a dream)_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

 ** _Naaaahh Ohh~_**

 ** _It was only just a dream_**

"Oh my Arceus. That's it!" White immediately shot up. "You're perfect!"

"Err, for what?" Kate asked warily as White clasped both of her hands around her's.

"Your voice! Your appearance! You're my Beauty!"

"Geez, White. I didn't know you felt that way. I thought you were dating Black." Summer chipped in.

"You're dating Black?!" I nearly screamed. Finally! One of my ships setting sail!

"Not like that! For the musical! I now have the lead female role!" White explained.

"What?!" Kate exclaimed.

"Come on Kate, It would be fun! I would love to see you on that stage!" Rhythmi encouraged her.

"Yeah, in front of the entire school and more! I can't do that! I've only sung in private. The largest crowd I've had was you four!" she panicked.

"Kate, honey, you'll be fine. After all, you have all of your friends supporting you." I told her.

"Yeah! I'm helping as part of the stage crew!" Summer added. "And as a feather duster."

"Make up artist!" Rhythmi grinned. "And as a wardrobe!"

"See? You'll be fine! So would you do it?" White asked.

"Okay. I'll do it." Kate sighed.

"Great! Come on! We have to rehearse right away!" White dragged her away and towards the Lounge, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"Shouldn't we tell Kate that Keith is the male lead?" Summer asked.

"Aw, sweet Summer, you obviously don't know anything about this little game I like to call shipping. This little match up was just meant to happen." I patted her on her head.

"Tell me about it. I've been trying to get the both of them together for years." Rhythmi complained.

"Say, you don't happen to have a little black book of ships, do you?" I asked her.

"I've met my trainer counterpart." she smirked as she held one up.

"I have a feeling we are going to be great friends." I grinned. I should add Lyra in on our little group too.

"Who's first?" she asked.

"I let you pick." I said.

"What about Summer and Ben?"

"What?!"

* * *

 **Mason's POV**

I've calmed down, to say the least. After Gary's intervention earlier, I decided to take a walk. A rather long walk. One I am still on right now. And that fight was what? This morning? And the sun is setting now so yeah. A very long walk.

I have a real destination in mind. I practically walked around the entire campus, town, and housing areas. I would've walked the entire island, but let's be real; I'm not _that_ conflicted.

Speaking of which, lately, I've been feeling something inside of me whenever I see Scarlett, hear her, or even hear her name. I can't describe it, but I have to say, I've never felt this way before. I would ask my parents about, but with _my_ parents, it's a bad idea. Dad would have no idea about it and Mom; well she's going to ask me several questions and make the wedding something even bigger.

Huh. Hard to imagine isn't it? I'm marrying a girl I had no idea even existed till a few months ago. But I know that she's not really there. Not lately. Not for a while. But I accept it. If it's to help her, then I'll do it. Scarlett deserves it. After what she been through, she does deserve it.

Right now, I was just wandering the halls of the Lounge. No one was really here. It is getting late and classes are back on tomorrow. The only real people here are the cast for the musical. I've been hearing White yelling at people for a while now. And I'm on the third floor. They're on the first.

I was just throwing in the air this rock Satoshi gave me when he took my family on that little trip the other day. He didn't say what it was, but to keep it. I don't know why, but considering how my dad rubbed off of me, I got curious and did what he told. It's not much of a rock, but some sort of crystal. It was ice blue and was cut like a diamond. It was as big as my nail on my thumb. I've studied different rocks before, but not one like this. I've never seen anything like it before.

I walked down the wing that held all of the training rooms for the students if they wanted to touch up on battling or stuff like that. I heard some yelling and thuds coming from one door. Odd, I didn't think anyone would be training this late. I stopped and looked at the door. It was slightly cracked. I touched it and it swung all the way open.

When I peeked in, I saw Scarlett with her back to me. I spotted a blindfold over her eyes and her in workout clothes. I took a step forward when I saw a Flamethrower heading straight towards her, but she effortlessly jumped out of the way. Then she leaned all the way back as a Hydro Pump nearly hit her. She brought her legs above her and flipped several times as vines spouted from the ground from where she was.

When she was stable on her feet again, Scarlett brought her arm up to block an Iron Tail from her Pika. I spotted a blue orb growing in her other hand. When it was the size of a softball, Scarlett let down the arm blocking the Iron Tail and threw the orb at her pokemon. Pika knocked it away with her Iron Tail and charged up for a Thunderbolt. With a large crash and flash, a Thunderbolt exploded.

When I was able to open my eyes again, I saw black soot circling the area where Pika and Scarlett was, but neither of them had a scratch on their bodies. A circle six feet wide, with Scarlett in the middle, was completely clear, no soot in sight. That was when I spotted the blue shimmer disappearing from around her.

Suddenly, Rio came up from behind Pika and threw an Aura Sphere at Scarlett. Quickly, Scarlett caught the Aura Sphere and threw it right back to Rio. She took the hit, but from the cloud of smoke, two beams shot out, one a royal blue and the other a dark purple. Finally recognizing the attack Scarlett was charging, I saw her throw the Aura Sphere at the Dragon and Dark Pulses. More smoke came and Scarlett jumped back from the cloud.

She jumped again to avoid a Psycho Cut. I widen my eyes when I saw her Sol come out of nowhere with a Night Slash and hit Scarlett on her arm.

"Damn it!" I heard her hiss as she ripped off her blindfold. "Still can't see that dark energy."

Now I'm taking this as my chance to walk in the room. All of her pokémon were surrounding their wounded trainer. I was only a few steps behind them, equally worried.

"Absol." Sol nudged her trainer.

"It's okay, girl. I know you didn't mean to do it on purpose. It was my idea after all." Scarlett said softly as she used her blindfold to make a makeshift bandage around her wound.

 _I guess it's only physical dark energy we have to work on. You countered my Dark Pulse fine. I_ heard Rio talk. Wait a minute, talked?! Last time I checked, pokemon couldn't talk! _By the way, there's a boy here whose been watching us train for the last five minutes._

"Hmm? Mason?" Scarlett finally turned over to my direction.

"Oh! Umm..." I'm suddenly at a loss of words.

""What's that in your hand?" she asked as she pointed to my hand.

What?" I asked as I looked down. I saw that the hand I was holding that crystal in was glowing. "What the-?" I opened up my hand and saw that it was the rock that was glowing.

 _Another aura stone? And the same type from the cave too._ Rio spoke.

"Okay, how come I can understand you?!" I whipped my head towards her direction.

"Did my dad give that stone to you?" Scarlett asked as she stood up. I nodded. "I suspected as so." she sighed. "You know one of my secrets. Time for another. And I guess you already saw it."

"You mean that Aura Sphere?"

"Yeah. See, I was born with the ability to control the essence of all life, aura, and I can use that to attack, communicate, sense other auras, and a bunch of other stuff normal people can't do unless they have an aura stone, which is that rock, but even than they can only do limited things. If you have an aura stone, you can communicate wordlessly with anyone who has the same aura as the stone. In this case, Rio and myself."

"So that's why I can hear her?"

"Exactly."

 _Not really soaking this information in, is he?_

"I can hear you!"

"Enough." Scarlett sighed as she returned her larger pokémon. "I have somewhere to go. I'll see you later."

"But what about your arm?" I asked her as she was about to exit.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it." she gave a weak smile before walking out. She's wrong. I am going to worry about it. And I'm not going to let her go.

* * *

 **A new side of Gary is revealed! Yes! There is finally some plot! Not much, but some!**

 **But does that relate to Gary? I know, but you guys don't know.**

 **I also like this chapter a lot. A little bit more slower pace and gives everyone a chacne to relax a bit.**

 **As for next chapter, things are going to change. The next few chapters will be a bit longer and a little more action packed.**

 **As a little reminder, I do have a DeviantArt account now adn I would love to see you all check it out! I'm so happy to finally share my artwork with people now! Just look for AnikaChichan!**

 **Until next time, I hope you all review since I love seeing them! They keep me going and positive!**

 **-AKCC, signing out!**


	40. Family Day: Winter

**Hello everyone! I know I haven't been saying much in my notes, but's only because homework and assignments have been piling up and with activites going on, there's just so much stress. Not to mention two storms that happened in the last two weeks with possibily another one this week. Hopefully my power doesn't go out if it does! My house was lucky the last two times!**

 **With March ending soon, there's so many things that's going on. Like theatre, sports, and college decisions coming out! Geez, I really aimed high. Hopefully I get in somewhere! I did get acceptances in a few schools already, but they're my back-ups. There's nothing worng in that, but they're just not my first choices.**

 **Enough babbling! Time for reviews and then the action-packed chapter!**

 **FreezeBurn: You got it right! (It doesn't matter how old it is, I'm just glad that you played along!)**

 **.18: I know the chapter had a lot in it, but it was necessary to push the story along farther. It was beginning to lag in my opinion. As for your idea, I am not writing another stories at this time since I am already busy with my current stories and my own private life. You may write the story yourself if you wish, but in my opinion, a story with that kind of plot is just not for me.**

 **And that's it! Disclaimer and we can get on to what you guys are all patiently waiting for!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Or anything I refer to. Espeically not the song either. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Chapter Forty

 **Scarlett's POV**

"There." I sighed as I stood up. I was standing on the front steps of Gary's house he shared with his friends. It was his birthday today and I wanted to get him a gift so I did, but I'm not in the mood to meet with anyone face to face. It's been a while since I actually talked to any of my friends. I avoided seeing them unless we have classes.

No one has really questioned it yet and I'm glad for that. I just want to be alone for now. For a while. I think they understand. I think.

It was also another Family Day today. It was very early in the morning. No one else was up except for me. Dad arranged a day out with Mason's family since, well, we are going to be family.

I was dressed in a short sleeved gray sweater dress with a black turtle neck under it and black leggings. Black boots that went up to my knees kept my legs warm as well. The only really pop of color in my outfit was a thin red belt that rested over my sweater dress at my waist. My pokeballs were in the black shoulder bag I had. Mew was in her pokéball while Pika was out with me on my shoulder. I had my hair tired up in a half ponytail with the pin I wore when I first met Mason was in my hair once again.

I turned around and walked down the steps. I started to walk towards the meeting spot Dad told me when I heard a voice behind me.

"Scarlett!"

I froze. Not only was I surprised that someone else was awake at 4:30 in the morning, but I can't believe that it was him. The one person I avoided the most. The one I tried not to

"X." I breathed out as I turned my head slightly back. He was just standing there. All dressed and ready to go to meet his family. He stared at me and I turned back around. I started to walk away quickly, but I heard footsteps later and he was in front of me.

"Scarlett, we need to talk." he narrowed his eyes at me.

"There's nothing to talk about." I muttered as I looked away from him. "I need to go."

"It's four in the morning; I doubt you have somewhere to be this early. Why are you even up this early?"

"I could say the same to you."

"Scarlett, what happened to you? Why are you acting this way?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine. Now if you excuse me," I tried to walk past him, but he stood in my way again. "Get out of my way. I have to go somewhere."

"Now until you tell me what's going on." he glared back at me.

"There's nothing going on. I'm fine!" I nearly shouted. He's really getting on my nerves. "Just leave me alone."

"This is not you. I know you. You're not acting anything like you used to be."

"And why do you care? It's none of your business. It's mine." I glared at him. "Now move." I walked past him.

"Scarlett!" I felt him grab my wrist. I couldn't take it. Memories flooded back in my mind. I snapped.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed. I pulled back from him and held my hand close to me. I shook as I stand feet away from him than I was. I shut my eyes, trying to regain control of my body again. I-I can't take it. I don't want to go through that again. Not again.

"Scarlett?" I forced my eyes creak open a bit and saw X standing there, his eyes widen in shock and concern. I shut my eyes again. I turned around and ran away. I could barely see where I'm going through the tears welling up in my eyes, but when I turned around a corner. I put up a shield and turned invisible. It was only than did I slow down and wipe the tears that threaten to fall down.

"Pikapi?" Pika asked me.

"I-I'm okay." I told her. "I just need to get away from him." I wiped the last tear away. "Now, let's get to Dad's."

I took my time walking over to the staff housing. It was still dark, but I could see just fine. The lampposts illuminated the way for me as I walked on the paths. After a while, I felt safe enough to let the shield down.

I crossed my arms after a while. Winter was coming soon and it was getting colder each day. Now I wish I brought a jacket or something. It's fine though. I'm not that cold. It was supposed to be sunny today as well. That can warm things up a bit.

Soon, I ended up in front of the door to my dad's apartment. I looked at the time and saw that it was five. He probably wouldn't be awake at this time so I took out the extra key he gave to me and unlocked the door. I walked in and locked the door back behind me. I looked around and saw the apartment to be simple and clean. It looked similar to the house we have near Mount Silver, but not quite the same.

I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. At that time, Mew popped out of her pokéball and sat down next to Pika on the couch.

" _Ahhh!"_ she yawned. " _Why are you up so early in the morning?"_

"I always wake up this early, remember?" I answered.

" _Yeah, but really? It's only five!"_ she whined.

"Stop complaining. Watch some TV." I said as I flipped through the channels. Soon, Rio and Sol let themselves out and watched TV with Mew and Pika. As for me, I placed on my headphones and listened to some music instead. I shuffled my playlist and closed my eyes as I let the song play.

 ** _Well, I couldn't tell you_**

 ** _Why she felt that way_**

 ** _She felt it everyday_**

 ** _And I couldn't help her_**

 ** _I just watched her make_**

 ** _The same mistakes again_**

 ** _What's wrong, What's wrong now?_**

 ** _Too many, too many problems_**

 ** _Don't know where she belongs_**

 ** _Where she belongs_**

 ** _She wants to go home_**

 ** _But nobody's home_**

 ** _That's where she lies_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _With no place to go_**

 ** _No place to go_**

 ** _To dry her eyes_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _Open your eyes_**

 ** _And look outside_**

 ** _Find the reasons why_**

 ** _You've been rejected_**

 ** _And now you can't find_**

 ** _What you've left behind_**

 ** _Be strong, be strong now_**

 ** _Too many, too many problems_**

 ** _Don't know where she belongs_**

 ** _Where she belongs_**

 ** _She wants to go home_**

 ** _But nobody's home_**

 ** _That's where she lies_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _With no place to go_**

 ** _No place to go_**

 ** _To dry her eyes_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _Her feelings she hides_**

 ** _Her dreams she can't find_**

 ** _She's losing her mind_**

 ** _She's falling behind_**

 ** _And she can't find her place_**

 ** _She's losing her faith she's falling from grace_**

 ** _She's all over the place, yeah_**

 ** _She wants to go home_**

 ** _But nobody's home_**

 ** _That's where she lies_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _With no place to go_**

 ** _No place to go_**

 ** _To dry her eyes_**

 ** _Broken inside_**

 ** _She's lost inside_**

 ** _Lost inside, oh ohhh_**

 ** _She's lost inside_**

 ** _Lost inside, oh ohhh yeah_**

* * *

Sometime later, I found myself get shook awake by Pika. I opened my eyes to see just her and Mew out watching TV. I guess Rio and Sol must have returned to their pokéballs when I drifted off to sleep. I turned off my music and took my earbuds out.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked Mew as I rubbed my eyes after I took off my glasses.

" _Just an hour or so. We heard some noises from your dad's room. I guess he's waking up."_ Mew answered.

"Oh. Thanks for telling me." I replied as I put my music away. I just sat there, watching TV with my pokémon. Mew and Pika were busy watching a cartoon with a Meowth and Pikachu called 'Luka and Miku' with Mew laughing at every hurtful trap the poor Meowth, Luka, was in. Pika just looked proud that a Pikachu kept on beating a Meowth. Occasionally with the help of an Arcanine.

After a while, I felt a bit hungry. "Are you guys hungry? I know that you haven't gotten anything to eat." I asked my pokémon.

" _We could use a bite to eat."_ Mew nodded.

"I'll go make something. Call the others out so they can eat too." I replied as I stood up. I walked around the couch and into the kitchen that separated the rest of the room with an island. I looked through the fridge and cabinets to find not much in there. I wonder how Dad is able to live like this. Though I guess he just went to town to find something to eat.

I settled on making some pancakes. I first looked in the closet for an apron or something. The only apron I saw was the one from our old home. It was a full body pink frilly apron that said 'World's Best Dad'. I bit my lip to stop a laugh from coming out. I gave him that as a gift when I was six. I'm surprised he still had it. Nonetheless, I placed it on and tied it.

I got out a pan and placed it on the stove, turning it on. I made the batter pretty quickly and when the pan was hot enough, I poured the batter in and soon enough, I got a stack of pancakes on nine different plates. When I was done cooking, I placed the apron back where it was. I have to ask Dad about it later.

I decorated each plate with different berries, whipped cream, and whatever syrup my pokémon wanted on theirs. Saur, Sol, and Tor went with maple syrup while Mew, Char, and Rio wanted chocolate. As for Pika, she got ketchup. Don't ask me; she begged for it.

As my pokémon ate, I sat down with them and ate my own plate with chocolate syrup. My larger pokémon finished first so I returned them, in fear of the floor collapsing under the weight of four heavy pokemon. Sol wanted to go back in her pokéball to rest so I let her.

Now it's just Mew, Pika, and I eating our breakfast in peace. A minute or two passed when I spotted Dad walking out of the hallway leading to his room.

"Oh! Ashley. You're here." he blinked when he saw me. "And you made breakfast?"

"Good morning Dad, there's a stack of pancakes on the counter. Choose chocolate or maple syrup. And I would suggest you hide the ketchup better next time." I told him.

"Pikapi! Chu!" Pika whined.

"You're not getting anymore!" I scolded her.

"That's a lot of pancakes you made." Dad commented as he spotted the plate.

"It wasn't much. I used what I need to feed myself and my pokémon." I commented as I carried my empty plate over to the sink. I cleaned up the equipment I used to make the pancakes earlier so now I had to wash the plates my pokémon and I used. Dad sat down on the couch next to my pokemon as he ate his plate. I washed, rinsed, and dried the dishes and by the time I was done, everyone was done with their breakfast and everything was cleaned up.

"Oh, and you might want to hide that apron too. You don't want people to think that you have a feminine side." I added.

"You saw that?" he blushed.

"I used it. Seriously, it's not very manly if you have company over." I smirked.

"You did give it to me." he retorted.

"But did I ask you to keep it and have it plain sight? No." I countered.

"When did you get here?" Dad asked me in an attempt to change the subject.

"About five. I wanted to get here a bit early." I told him as I placed the dishes away.

"A bit?" he raised a brow. I stared at him in return and he sighed in defeat. "I'll go get changed. The Stones will be here in at seven."

When he went back to his room, I looked at the clock and saw that it was only a half hour till they come. Dad came back out a few minutes later, dressed in nicer clothes than he would usually wear.

"Dad, where are we going with them?" I asked him.

"We're just going to explore the island a little bit. Not much, but it is a big island so we're going to take a car to drive on the roads." he answered.

"Do you remember how to drive?"

"I think so."

"I feel so safe right now."

"Unlike the helicopter, I actually did take a test for a license."

"That expired when?"

"..."

"Now I am grateful that you never taught me how to drive."

"Hey, I did take the test again and passed. I just never got my license renewed."

"But, don't you get your license renewed when you take the test?"

"..."

 _Ding-dong!_

"Would you look at that! They're here!" Dad stood up and clapped his hands. I turned my attention back to the TV as he went over to answer the door.

"Mason! Where are your parents?" I heard Dad asked.

"They said that they'll be a while and I should go on ahead. Is Scarlett here?" he answered.

I turned around to face the door. "Hi Mason." I greeted him.

I looked over to Dad and saw that his bangs were covering his eyes and there was an unusual gleam in them. "So what I'm hearing is, you're taking my daughter out on a date." He lifted his head up slightly with a creepy smile. His eyes glowed red under the shadow of his bangs.

I blushed red when I heard my dad utter those words out of his mouth.

"D-Dad!" I shouted. I turned around my entire body and grabbed the edge of the couch with my hands. "He did not say that!"

As I suspected, he just ignored me and went back to questioning poor Mason who was as red as I am. "So what are your intentions with my daughter today, young man?"

"Dad!"

"Um, intentions, sir?" Mason was sweating. I wouldn't blame him. "I'm just trying to show her a good time." I wanted to hide my face right now. I'm mortified. "N-Not like that I mean!"

"I see." I wanted to pound my head against a wall so hard. "Well, I guess I can let you kids go out together. But I want her back by her curfew."

"Dad!" I shouted at him again. "First thing, it is not a date! Second, I don't have a curfew and third, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"What? If you guys are going to be married, he should at least take you out on a date." Dad turned around to me and shrugged casually. Where's that wall? I'm going to slam my head in it right now. Instead, I grabbed a nearby pillow and buried my face in it and screamed.

I am so embarrassed right now. I can't believe I'm living with this. When I pulled my face away from the pillow I noticed some of my make up rubbed off on it.

"Damn." I sighed. I threw the pillow aside and grabbed my bag, heading towards the bathroom. "Sorry about the pillow!" I called out as I locked myself in the bathroom. First thing I did, I sank to my knees and reflected how embarrassing my dad is. I wonder if other girls have to live like this. Second thing I did as to stood up and do my make up over again. Good thing I kept my kit in my bag at all times. When I was done, I walked back out to the living room. When I got there, Mason was sitting on the couch across from Dad.

I sighed and walked over to the door. I noticed that Mew turned invisible earlier and was right now sitting on my shoulder. Pika was on the other one. "Are we still going to spend the day together or are we just going to stay indoors all day?" I asked Dad.

"Cynthia and Steven are running a bit late, but I guess I can let you and Mason go ahead first." he answered. Without warning, he pulled out a set of car keys and threw them at me. I caught them and stared back at him.

"Uh, I can't drive." I reminded him.

"But I can." Mason stood up and plucked the keys out of my hands. "Don't worry sir, I'll get her back in one piece." he said before opening the door for me.

"Why do I feel like you're enjoying this?" I asked him once we were out in the hall.

"What? Your dad's a lot of fun." he shrugged as we headed down to the garage area.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same man?" I raised a brow.

"And I see where you got your sense of humor from." he winked at me.

"How funny." I said flatly once we got down to the garage. We walked over to where Dad parked his car that he never uses. It was a red convertible and looked like the day it was made. Truth be told, it's mine, but since he claims that since I never drive (even though I _can't drive_ ), he's keeping it.

"Your dad has a sweet ride." Mason whistled.

"It's actually mines, but since I can't drive, Dad has it stored here, even though he doesn't drive much." I replied as I sat in the passenger seat. Mason sat in the driver's seat and started the car.

"I would suggest you hold on to something. I only got my license last week." he smiled at me before hitting the gas.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **Crystal's POV**

"Argh, why did you wake us up this early, Blue?" I complained as I rubbed my eyes. The other girls and I were standing on the campus grounds where the festivities for Family Day will be held along with the town.

"We have to help White get her musical ready." she answered.

"Doesn't she have a stage crew for that?" I retorted.

"Yes, but I just wanted to get up early!"

"And I'm here because?"

"Hi Blue-senpai! Crys-san!"

"I think that answered your question!" Blue beamed at me as she waved to the person behind me. I turned around. Make that people. I saw Lyra, May, Dawn, and Serena walked towards us.

"It's nice to see you guys up so early." May noted.

"But uh, is Yellow awake?" Dawn asked. I looked over at her and saw that the blonde had her eyes closed and her head drooped to the side.

"She's not much of a morning person." Blue explained.

"And where's Whi-Two? I know White is supposed to be gone since she's the director and all." Serena asked.

"Whi is helping out White with the musical. We can meet up with them when the musical is done."

"Which is when?" Lyra asked.

"It starts at six this evening and it's supposed to last two hours without intermission." I answered. "It might be a while."

"And what will we do in the meantime?" May asked.

"Some of the student decided to set up some stalls so the families can enjoy their time here. X brought it to my attention in order to satisfy the student body some more. So I let them do their stalls, after approving them, of course." Blue explained.

"Wow. You're actually doing your job." I commented.

"Shut up."

"Huh?! What's going on?!" at that time, Yellow decided to wake up. When she did, we all jumped as she quickly looked around.

"Geez, Yels! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Blue exclaimed.

"Since when did I get here?" Yellow asked sleepily.

"When Blue dragged all of us out of bed and on campus." I answered. "At six in the morning."

"Where are White and Whi-Two?" Yellow asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Getting ready for the musical. That's why we're also here! We're hoping to help out somehow." Dawn answered.

"Hmm, White hasn't texted me about any help yet, but I think she will when she needs us." Blue said as she checked her pokégear. "I say we check out the stalls while we wait for the musical tonight."

"Wait a minute, when are the parents supposed to get here?" I asked her.

"Soon. The students haven't fully set up their stalls yet." she answered.

"Again, why are we up this early?" I sighed.

"Come on, Crys! It's fun to wake up nice, bright, and early! Have you ever seen the sunrise? It's so nice! I'm usually up to see it!" Lyra exclaimed.

"That's nice." I sweatdropped. If she gets up that early, than why is she always so peppy?

"Let's just take a walk around. Almost everyone's families are coming today." Blue suggested. "I even invited our families today too!"

"You mean like last time?" I deadpanned.

"That's right!" she exclaimed. "Let's get going!"

* * *

 **Silver's POV**

So why did I trust him with this anyways? Why did I take Emerald's word and went through with this?

It was just the beginning of the activities at Family Day. Thankfully, this year, Nee-san didn't make me go with her to meet her parents. As much as it was a pleasure to meet them last time, can I just say I know why they're her real parents. Seriously.

But Emerald told me a few days ago, or weeks for that matter, that he found some information on my family. Not on my birth mother. I don't know if I what to find out about that. After what my dad sent me in that letter. I'm not sure if I want to know. But Emerald said that it was only a cousin. A cousin. Not a sister or my mom. He really didn't specified, but I know that she isn't my mom. I'm not too sure about sister though. Too early to tell.

I'm waiting at the spot Emerald told me. It's a not-so-busy spot from the stalls the students set up. For the first time in a while, Lyra wasn't bothering me. I'm seriously, I have a feeling that girl knows exactly where I am all the time. She's really annoying. How do I even put up with her?

"Um, are you Silver?" I looked up to see a girl looking at me. She looked only a few years older than I was. She had red hair as red as mines with red eyes to go with it. She had a white t-shirt on with a long sleeve gray one under that. A white skirt went over her gray leggings while white boots went up to her knees.

"Who are you?" I asked with a scowl.

"Well, I guess it was rather rude of me not to say my name, though I see that you're equally as rude." she remarked. "But I'm Mars. Mars Aresia. At least, that's what I go by here."

I raised a brow. So this was the so called relative of mines. "Did Emerald send you here?" I asked.

"There's no other reason why I would be talking to you. I've never seen you before in my life. Why did I even agree to this?" she countered. I can now certainly see the resemblance.

"Aresia huh? And you said that you go by that here? Interesting." I muttered.

"What? It's not uncommon for people to change their names." Mars said with a scowl as she crossed her arms.

"I could care less. I've changed my name a few times." I shrugged

"Really? So I guess you wouldn't mind if you tell me just one?"

"As if. You won't even recognize it. Unless you're so keen on it."

"Try me." she smirked. I have to admit, I had to grin a bit at that. With every word she said, I'm getting more convinced, but I still can't be too sure. I'm going with one that someone who is in my family will always know.

"Okay than. I usually don't do this, but it may be my first name or my last. My real or fake. Up to you; Passant." I said. With that, Mars gasped as her eyes widen. I raised a brow as I saw tears coming out of the corners of her eyes.

"Oh my Arceus! Argent, is that you? My little brother Argent?" she said softly. Now it's my time to widen my eyes. Little brother?

"Tch. I knew this was a bad idea." I grumbled as I stood up. I started to walk away.

"No! Stop! Don't you dare walk away! I lost you once when _they_ took you away!" Mars grabbed my arm to stop me. I stopped walking. "I'm sure you know that I was a part of Team Galactic, but I'm not anymore. I've learned my lesson. And over the course of my time there, I've basically worshipped Cyrus."

"He was the only father figure in my life after my own father and yours too disowned me! I looked up to him because I had no one to raise me. I was only thirteen when they kicked me out of the house! And trust me when I tell you I was the only one who truly cared for you! They blamed me when you were kidnapped! That was when they wanted nothing to do with me! That was when I lost my family..."

"So you say you're my sister? My biological sister?" I muttered.

"Of course I am! I wish I could've been there for you, but I've been searching for you everywhere I could! And now you're here. With hair as red as mine. Last time I saw you, you had dark brown hair! And black eyes! I can definitely see who took after whom here."

Now, I'm really convinced. No one else knows that except for Nee-san and she would never tell anyone. "Okay. I believe you. I really do."

"Really?! Oh thank Arceus! I never thought I would get my brother back!" Mars sighed in happiness.

"Just don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to find out." I warned her.

"Oh please, I've been hiding my family tree for years. I'm a natural at this." she said.

"And you said that you know my- I mean our mother. Can you tell me?" I asked.

"I do know if you want to know." Mars said softly. "All I can say is that she's in the same business."

"You mean?"

"I'm sorry, but you may know her. I did say I know who took after whom. You after _him_ and me after,"

"Ariana." I gritted my teeth. Out of all the women in the world. It had to be the one that I may hate the most out of the Executives.

"I did say so. I'm sorry. I wish she wasn't my mother as well." Mars said softly.

"Well there's nothing we can do about it." I shook my head. "It is Family Day, and apparently, we're family so,"

"Oh this will be fun!" Mars exclaimed. "Let's do the shooter games first! I've been dying to shoot something!"

* * *

 **Mason's POV**

I slammed my foot on the brakes as I jerked the wheel completely to the left. With that, the car skidded to a stop on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"Heh. Hope that wasn't too much of a ride for you." I looked over to Scarlett. When I did, she was wide eyed and her hair was completely messed up from the wind. For a few seconds, she stayed that way until the corners of her lips up turned and she closed her eyes. The most unexpected thing happened next. She laughed.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" she kept on laughing. I just stated at her in shock. Did she finally lose it?

I tried to say something, but whenever my mouth opened, it just closed up and back down again. Seriously, maybe taking her on this car ride was a bad idea. I broke her.

"Ahahahaha! Oh! Sorry! It's just-! Hahahaha!" Scarlett laughed out. "I've never felt this alive before! What a rush! Oh, you must think I'm crazy! Just laughing out of nowhere like that."

I opened my mouth and the words in my mind just came out. "Well maybe just a little bit."

"Hahaha... okay. I'm good now. Wow! That was the best I've felt in a long while!" she exclaimed.

"Really? I never would've guess." I cracked a grin.

"Yeah, well I see where you're coming from." she blushed. "I guess I have been acting different and it's affecting everyone who cares about me. It's just, there's a lot going on and I've never faced anything like that before. I don't know how to relax or in this matter, let anyone help. I thought I could cope with it myself, but now I see I need people to help me."

"You had everyone worried about you." I told her. "I've noticed that whenever we have classes, you were always the last one in right before the bell and the first one to leave right after it rings. Your friends are the ones who worried the most. Especially X."

"X?" she closed her eyes. "Oh Arceus. I should've known." she then muttered something under her breath.

"What?" I asked.

"It's nothing." she shook her head. "But thanks. My eyes are wide open now." Scarlett looked ahead. "Oh! Look! It seems like our parents set up a picnic for us!" I looked at where she was pointing and she was right. There was a blanket overlooking the campus with a basket set on it. Strangely enough, there was also a guitar case and a smaller similar looking case next to it.

"Weird. Were our parents thinking that we would end up here alone together?" I asked out loud as I got out of the car and locked it.

"I am so going to get my dad back at this." Scarlett growled. "This was his plan all along!""

"Now, knowing my mother, I would think she was the mastermind behind this." I sweatdropped.

"Yeah, that is true." she nodded. "But it is actually nice." she opened the small case and gasped. "Oh my Arceus! My violin! I thought it was still back at home!"

"You play the violin?" I asked her as she picked it up.

"I told you that; didn't I?" she looked at me as she prepped her violin. She placed the instrument on her shoulder and picked up the bow that came with it. "And I'm guessing you play the guitar?" she used the bow to point at the case.

"Yeah." I nodded as I opened it up than I noticed something next to it. "Why is there an amp here?"

"I guess your parents know you too." Scarlett laughed. I smiled and plugged the electric guitar in to the amp. There were some feedback, but it wasn't too loud.

"You know how to play anything?" I asked her.

"Well, there is this one song. I've made up my own version of it." Scarlett nodded as she placed the bow on the strings. The next second, her mouth opened as she sang a few notes. Then she started playing. My eyes widen as she moved the bow with such expertise with her eyes closed. It was a like she can play the song by heart.

The next thing she did surprised me as well. She danced around a bit. Twirling and spinning around as she tuned in to the music. After a while, she let out a few more notes when she bounced the bow on the strings. I looked down at my guitar and grinned. Maybe another new part would go well with the song.

I grabbed the pick and strummed a few notes. I looked up and saw Scarlett stopped playing and looked at me in shock. I just kept playing though. I didn't know what I was playing, but it sounded good. Really good and I haven't played in a few years. After a few measures, I stopped. That was when Scarlett picked up again and started to play again.

There I stood, with my guitar hanging in front of my body, watching Scarlett danced to her heart's content in rhythm to the song she was playing. Eventually, what felt like forever, the song she was playing ended. When she was done, I could see Scarlett panting, but happy. The happiest I have ever seen her. And with the sun illuminating her face, she looked beautiful.

Clapping from behind shocked both of us. I turned around to see our parents standing there. I couldn't help but let a blush come on.

"That was beautiful!" Red praised his daughter.

"D-Dad!" I looked at her to see that she was blushing too.

"Now, I think that's enough for entertainment today." my dad said. "Let's get to the picnic. I think the food may be cold by now."

"But I want to hear my son play a song!" Mom whined.

"Mom!" I whined.

However, a growl from Scarlett stopped everything. I looked towards her to see her blush deepened. "Sorry. That _was_ a long car ride."

"Come on. Let's dig in!" Red said. Everyone sat in a circle on the blanket. I sat between Scarlett and Mom with Red next to Scarlett and Dad filling in the missing space. It was great spending time like this together. But I have to say that the best part was Scarlett herself. She's full of surprises, but I wonder how she feels about me.

* * *

 **Okay. The real action starts next chapter! I promise. I swear, none of you will see it coming! I think. Unless you're psychic over the internet or something.**

 **A little fun fact, Mars' last name here, Aresia, is based off of the name of the Greek god of war, Ares. Since Mars is Ares' Roman god counterpart, I just based her last name off of that!**

 **Also, the song Mason and Scarlett were playing together was Lindsey Stirling's cover of the Pokemon Theme song with Kurt Hugo Schneider. I just loved it so much I had to put it in somehow in this story. It doesn't have any lyrics, but I tried my best to let it show! And please go watch the music video of their cover! It's amazing! They're both very talented artists adn I'm huge fans of them both. Just don't mind the giant humanoid Pikachu.**

 **Sorry if my Author's Notes sound very rushed or boring lately. I've just been stressed for basically this entire schoool year. But I'm trying my best to get thorugh this school year. I'm actually going on a little vacation over the summer before I go off to school agian. I like to consider it as a graduation gift. Of course my sister already got me a pre-graduation gift and it was pepper spray. I know she's worried and all, but this early?**

 **Anyways, enough of me. I'll let you get back to your regular programmed lives. Please review if you like the chapter and/or the sotry! Reading them always make me smile even when I'm not feeling great.**

 **-AKCC, signing off!**


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